


Magitalia

by Prussian Joltik (Twilight_Joltik)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Darker than it sounds, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Humor, M/M, Romance, magical girl au, way too many characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-05-06 05:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 64,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5405168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilight_Joltik/pseuds/Prussian%20Joltik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Feliciano Vargas is told by a "Flying Mint Bunny" that he is a magical superhero that represents the country Italy and must fight against other Countries who are part of a mysterious and menacing plot no one quite understands. He isn't sure whether this is terrifying, amazing, or just plain ridiculous. Most likely, it's a bit of all three, as he finds his normal life becomes turned on its head once his friends discover their own powers and everyone he meets seems to have a hidden agenda. Not to mention the enemies out for his head and looking for someone they call "the HRE"... Basically a Magical Girl AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue- Red Water

**Author's Note:**

> The image of Italy transforming into a Magical Girl-type warrior popped into my head and refused to leave. So, I did the only reasonable thing to do in that situation and decided to turn it into a story. 
> 
> Just some notes about this story. It may sound cute, but I'm rather terrible at writing anything happy. So brace yourself for "fun". And by fun, I mean suffering. Also, there are like, five or six truly main characters. Some of them should be painfully obvious, but others will seem to be almost randomly chosen. I assure you there's a method to the madness, but don't be shocked if someone you didn't expect to see takes a major role. Also, there are pairings, but that's expected. This is Hetalia, after all. 
> 
> So, thank you for reading and enjoy~!

_Magitalia_

_Prologue- Red Water_

...Something was wrong, wasn't it?

This odd place he was lying down in, the one filled with red water and hardly any light at all, he wasn't supposed to be here, right?

Italy wasn't even sure how long he'd been there, or how he'd gotten there in the first place. He wasn't scared, though. Germany and Japan were with him, so everything would be fine.

He glanced to his left. His friend's black hair still fluttered oddly in the water, seemingly not wet from all the time they'd been lying in the pool of red. Japan's eyes were closed, as if he were sleeping, but he somewhat doubted that was the case. His eyes could easily be playing tricks on him, but it looked like he could see the water through Japan's body.

To his right was Germany, who was staring up at the blackness above them. Other than the occasional blink, he didn't think he'd seen the blond close his eyes at all in all the time they'd been there.

Italy stared up at the sky again. There were no stars, no moon, no sun; no light at all, really. The water was the only thing that glowed, and that light seemed less bright than it once was.

Glancing over again, he found he could no longer see Japan. Whether the blackness had swallowed him or he'd simply vanished, he couldn't tell. Somehow, he knew he shouldn't be scared, but he felt something burning at his eyes.

As he stared at the empty void where his friend once laid, he felt someone grab his hand.

"Everything will be fine," a hoarse voice he only barely recognized as Germany's assured him. "We'll meet again. You know that, right?"

"R-right...", choked out his own voice, faint and raspy from such a long period of disuse. He knew he should know what that meant, he found himself struggling to remember it. His head was starting to feel light, like he was falling asleep.

A small sigh came from beside him. "I'll- we'll do better next time, I promise. We won't mess up, we'll save everyone."

He couldn't find the words to say anything. He didn't even know what he was saying anymore. Even turning his head to face the one saying them felt to be too much, and the blond man lying next to him barely looked familiar.

Still, that man's cold blue eyes met his own, and he faintly whispered "We'll meet again soon, I promise," voice tinged with fear.

He looked at his hand, still clasped tightly in that man's. It was faint; he could see the red pool beneath them more clearly than he could the outline of his own flesh. He was fading too, it seemed, but he was far too sleepy to worry about it.

His eyelids fluttered shut, and before he drifted off, he was sure he heard a voice saying something to him, but it was too far away to make out what it was.

* * *

Feliciano's eyes shot open. His room was still pitch-black, and glancing over at his alarm clock, he could clearly see it was four-something in the morning. Still plenty of time to sleep, it seemed.  


Closing his eyes once more, he tried to remember that dream he'd been having. Something about water… And Ludwig and Kiku were there too, right?

Sleep was pulling him back in, and he couldn't remember the details for the life of him. Just some dream. They were always weird, and he'd forgotten a million of them before, so he didn't really try to think on it any more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehe, it sort of starts slow, but trust me, the chapters are all a lot longer than this, and the pace really starts to pick up around chapter 7 or 8. So, thanks for reading~!


	2. Silver Cross

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Everything seems normal today, but that dream... I can't remember it, but it just won't go away. Surely that necklace my Grandpa gave me will protect me from whatever it is, right?"
> 
> Feliciano tries to have a normal day. It seems the universe has other plans for him, though.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter One- Silver Cross_

An alarm screamed. A bright light screamed. Everything screamed very loudly, but Feliciano just wanted to groan and beg for another five minutes in bed.

However, he knew the only way to make the screaming go away was to put in the effort to roll over to the other side of the bed and turn the alarm off himself. He did so after much internal struggle, and found by the time he'd mustered the energy required for that sort of task, he was too awake to even bother trying to recapture whatever dream he'd been having. What had it been about, anyways? He felt like it had been a weird one, but he couldn't remember a single detail of it.

He shrugged it off as he sat up. It would probably come back to him, and if it didn't, the most he could lose out on was an idea for a painting or something. With a stifled yawn, he pushed himself to his feet and started to get ready.

Or at least he did his version of "starting to get ready", which entailed picking up the sketchpad he'd haphazardly thrown off his bed the previous night, cringing a bit at what he'd drawn while half-asleep, and setting it nicely on his desk.

In his half-asleep mind, he registered that the cross necklace his Grandpa had given him before he died was sitting on the edge of his desk, and he took it in his hand. The silver cross was as bright as ever, despite him having worn it every day for two years now. Putting it on, the slight weight around his neck was as comforting as ever, like a hug from his Grandpa's ghost.

With that in mind, his eyelids seemed a little less heavy and he started preparing for the day.

As Feliciano rushed between putting breakfast on, shoving food in a paper sack for lunch, and putting clothes on, he attempted, as always, to not wake his brother.

A loud shout of "Shut up!" coming from Lovino's bedroom told him that, as always, he'd failed miserably.

"Sorry!", he shouted back, and was met with various muffled profanities. He felt a little bad for this, of course, and especially so given that his brother always had to work late, but he still sort of felt all the yelling was a tad excessive.

Still, he managed to eat breakfast, get dressed, and get out the door all in time by some miracle that repeated itself each weekday. He tried to say goodbye to his brother before he left for school, but knew he'd be met with either snores or yelling, so he held his tongue and wordlessly exited the house and started his walk to school.

Not much happened at school. Teachers talked, Feliciano tried to listen, and he learned nothing. There was lunch too, and that was okay, but Kiku was wrapped up in some manga and Ludwig didn't really say much, and he'd been in too much of a hurry that morning to pack anything he really cared about to eat, so even that wasn't all that fun.

And then, art class happened, and he was reunited with his precious pastels and permitted to work once more on that portrait he'd been working on while sitting next to Kiku. If lunch wasn't a thing, or if Ludwig was in the class, he'd probably say without hesitation that it was the best part of his day.

That day, however, he felt strangely off during the class. The familiar person he'd drawn a thousand times suddenly looked strange, and something about it felt strangely nostalgic. Not like it didn't usually do that, given the person he drew he had only seen once several years ago, but it was different this time. He still couldn't remember what he dreamt last night, and something about the masked man he was drawing made him feel like he really ought to.

"...Are you alright?" Kiku said this softly, but it was enough to snap Feliciano out of his daze.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," he quickly reassured his friend. "Just trying to remember something, that's all! Like, I think I had this weird dream last night and I can't remember it at all?"

Kiku gave him a sideways glance before resuming his own drawing. "Yes, that is quite fascinating," he remarked as he traced the outline of a girl with weird swirly pigtails and a gun on his paper with a black pen.

"Yeah, and I think that hero guy that saved me when I was little was in it maybe, but I really can't remember and-" Something suddenly came back to him- a faint sense that the person he was talking to might have had something to do with it. "Wait, actually, I think it was about you, maybe? And I think you died."

It took Kiku a moment to react, but once he did, it was simply a quiet "Yes, that is quite interesting."

Feliciano would have said more, but then he realized he was using a darker grey than he should have been and quickly had to grab different pastels and a paper towel to try to fix the error. By the time he'd mostly covered up his mistake, he'd forgotten about the whole issue.

Too soon, the bell rang to end art class, and he had to scramble to clean up the mess he'd made with his supplies as to not be late to his next class.

Said next class just happened to be Home Ec: his other favorite. Yes, it was the last class of the day, but it was also the only one he had with Ludwig where the teacher hadn't forced them to sit on opposite sides of the room.

And also, on most days, as soon as he entered the room, Ludwig sighed and dug a small vial of hand sanitizer out of his bag, as well as a tissue. As Feliciano took his seat beside him, his friend squirted a bit of the sanitizer on the tissue and wiped it across his cheek and nose.

"Could you try not to get that stuff all over your face?", Ludwig requested in a low voice as the teacher began giving them instructions for something.

"Sorry; pastels are just like that," he replied loudly enough for their teacher to glare at him while she gave the instructions for whatever it was they were to be doing, making him question once again why Ms. Hedervary hadn't moved one of them across the room by now. As she continued on, he started doodling on the paper she'd probably passed out before he'd gotten there and sort of lost the gist of what she was saying.

Ludwig ended up having to drag him out of his seat and over to the kitchen stations a good minute after everyone else had gone. "We're supposed to make brownies," his friend provided. That was a bit obvious, given the bag of brownie mix and eggs sitting on the counter.

"Ah, okay," Feliciano said. "So, we follow the recipe on the box?"

"I would assume so. Read it out and I'll measure everything."

He gave a little salute to his friend and exclaimed "Yes sir!" He picked up the empty box and glanced at it, his heart falling the second he saw "do not eat the batter" plastered across the top of the recipe on the back. "We need a fourth cup water, a fourth cup oil, and an egg."

"Is that all? Does it specify a water temperature?"

"No, just says water."

"And what do I preheat the oven to?"

Feliciano scanned the box. "Ah, 325, I think."

Some clanking noises came from behind him and by the time he'd turned around, Ludwig had begun pouring the oil into a black measuring cup, standing over the sink and coming precariously close to over-filling the cup. After it was satisfactorily measured and dumped into the bowl where the brownie mix had been emptied, he added the same amount of water.

"Alright," Ludwig prompted. "Now, what next?"

"Add the egg, mix, and spread in the pan."

A huff of annoyance came from his friend as he carefully broke the egg on the corner of the counter. "Really? That's all? I could do that blindfolded!"

"Yeah! You made that cake blindfolded that one time, and it turned out pretty good!"

Ludwig gave a weird laugh and turned back around to stir the mix. "Well, I wasn't about to let Gilbert win that one. How long do we put it in for?"

"Forty five minutes."

"Really?" Ludwig looked up at the clock in the front of the room and shook his head. "We don't have enough time before the end of class for that."

Ms. Hedervary seemed to have heard that, as she quickly walked over to them and huffed as she said "I'll get them out when they're ready, and you're meant to set a timer so I know when that is. I said that earlier, as you would know if you hadn't been so busy chatting."

"Ah, right, sorry," Feliciano quickly apologized.

Their teacher giggled and glanced at the clock. "Oh, it's fine," she casually stated. "You aren't even the worst offenders, and at least you two are-"

She suddenly stopped herself. "Are what?", Ludwig prompted, but she simply backed away, muttering something about grading papers.

"She seems a bit… off at times, doesn't she?", sighed Ludwig, saying off like it was a code he should understand.

He didn't really get what it was his friend was trying to imply. "Uh, not… really-?"

"I suppose it's nothing," said Ludwig. Silence followed, and Feliciano gazed out the window. There was a telephone pole right outside, with a handful of birds resting on it. He'd always wondered how they were able to stand on it without getting fried like kindergarten teachers said you would and-

A throat-clearing noise beside him snapped him out of his musing and turned his attention to his friend. "Anyways, I'd been meaning to ask you, how did that painting thing you were doing turn out?

Feliciano smiled broadly at that mention. Ludwig hardly ever asked him about his paintings, and he liked being able to talk about his favorite thing with his favorite person when he could. "Well, I thought it was kind of crap, but I ran out of time and also out of yellow, and I know that I seriously messed up on the background and the shading was sort of off, but the guy who commissioned it seemed to like it okay."

It took a minute to get any response out of him, but eventually, Ludwig said "That's… nice." and nothing more for a very long while.

Looking out the window, Feliciano tried to remember what he'd been thinking about a second ago, but the thought was gone. So, his mind wandered elsewhere, and eventually, he remembered a recipe he'd been trying to find the previous night. It was some stew he'd had years ago, and he was pretty sure Francis had been the one to make it, but he couldn't for the life of him get its taste out of his head. He'd tried to call Francis about it last night, but-

He suddenly remembered something he'd wanted to ask Ludwig. "Oh, can you ask your brother if he's heard from Francis lately?", he requested, and his friend's steely blue eyes snapped from the clock and back to him. "I wanted to call him last night, but it went straight to voicemail and I was gonna ask Lovino to ask Antonio about it but he never answers his phone at work and-"

"No, he hasn't," Ludwig replied, cutting him off. He was just talking about how the b-"

Whatever he was about to say, he cut it off as Ms. Hedervary walked by them, towards a pair of girls with egg and brownie mix all over themselves.

"-Er, the 'airhead'," he quickly amended the statement. "Had dropped off the face of the earth."

A little tug of worry pulled at Feliciano's mind, but he tried to wave it away. "Ah, that's too bad. He sort of does that, right?"

It took too long for Ludwig to reply with "...Right".

This subject needed to be changed, so Feliciano quickly did so. "Hey, after school, you wanna-"

"Sorry; working."

His friend answered his question of if they could do something together before he could even ask it, and he didn't particularly like the answer. "...Oh, right. It's fine, I can-"

"He's working at the animal shelter today, remember?"

Kiku always seemed to be at the animal shelter whenever he wanted to hang out, it seemed. Sometimes, he half wondered if he was starting to like that Heracles guy he worked with there more than him and Ludwig. "Oh, yeah. It's fine, I wanted to finish a watercolor anyways. What about-"

Ludwig gave a small smile and a nod. "To my knowledge, tomorrow will be fine. For Kiku as well."

He said something else, but the movement of something outside caught his attention. It didn't look like a bird, or at least like any bird he'd ever seen. It was green and looked almost like a flying stuffed rabbit of some sort from where he stood. It almost seemed to be looking behind it as it flew, like it was looking out for something. There was an odd shimmer in the air as it flew, sort of like how the ground gets all shiny on really hot days, but-

"Feliciano? FELICIANO!" A shout from beside him made him lose his concentration, and by the time he looked back, the weird creature was gone.

"Ah, did you see that just now?", he questioned.

An odd look came from his friend. "See what?"

"That weird flying thing out the window!", he explained, and Ludwig looked out the window for a moment, but then shook his head.

"...Eh, no. No I did not," he reported. "It was probably just a bird or something, nothing to worry about."

Confusion settled in. "Never mind, then," he muttered. Had he been imagining things? Or had Ludwig just not been looking?

The chimes of holy salvation stopped him from overthinking things, as they heralded the end of the day. "Ciao, Ludwig!", Feliciano called as he picked up his schoolbag and dashed out the room. Maybe if he hurried, he thought, he could see the weird flying thing outside.

So he dashed down the halls and out the entrance and over in the direction he'd seen the thing flying. Looking up, he tried to spot it again, but he only saw clouds. His thinking that he had just imagined the whole thing began to come back, and he came very close to just turning around and going home, but he then felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

He whirled around to see a blond man wearing a long green coat. "Excuse me, and this might sound odd, but have you seen anything… strange around here?"

"Yeah!", Feliciano exclaimed, and a smile spread across his face. He wasn't crazy, then! "I saw this green flying bunny a minute ago, but I can't find it now. Do you know what that thing was?"

The man smiled as well, but it was an unnerving smile- the kind that made you feel like this guy hadn't smiled in ages. "Very interesting," he muttered to himself, and his eyes, which were nearly the same color as that rabbit, scanned Feliciano very thoroughly before settling right below his face. "That necklace," he remarked. "Where did you get that?"

Normally, that question would sound like a compliment, but from this guy, it sounded more like a threat. "N-no, my grandpa gave it to me!", he exclaimed. "Please don't-"

"Your grandpa, you say?", the man mused. "Very promising. Would you mind perhaps coming with me for a moment?"

A hand fastened around Feliciano's wrist, and held very tight despite his struggles. This guy sounded like the type to offer kids candy in a white van, and he really wanted to get as far from this guy as possible. "No! Please, leave me alone!", Feliciano cried.

"Shame you had to struggle," the man remarked, and the same sort of haze he'd seen around the rabbit shone around him. "If you are who I think you are, then your powers could be very useful to us, and I hate to start off with you injured."

And then a gun appeared out a thin air. Several guns, actually. and they were all floating off the ground. And pointed at him.

Feliciano's heart beat wildly. Who was this guy, what on earth did he mean "his powers", and how was he conjuring guns? The attacker assumed a smug grin and stated "Au revoir, Italy." As energy charges seemed to form at the mouth of each gun, he clasped his hands together in prayer.

"Grandpa, brother, Ludwig, someone, help me!", he cried. The look on his assailant's face turned from smug to shocked in an instant, and a bright light began to envelop Feliciano.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remind me never to write anything so mundane ever again. See, this is why I can't do normal, happy stories; they're just so boring. Well, at least Switzerland will liven things up in the next chapter, right? Yes, that was Switzerland attacking him and not England. I never thought I would miss characters having Blue Hair, but I find myself wishing that blond hair/green eyes/green uniform wasn't a perfectly good description of at least two separate characters. And um, at least I got to put in some foreshadowing... So, thanks for reading~!


	3. White Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ah-? What- what’s going on? This light… it burns, but I swear I’ve seen it before.”
> 
> Feliciano tries very hard not to get killed by Switzerland and figure out why he has such weird powers. Or at least, after he remembers a similar incident from his childhood...

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Two- White Light_

The bright light that was eating Feliciano up, he was certain he'd seen it once before.

Years and years ago, when he was maybe six, someone had tried to attack him. It was late, nearly sunset, and Lovino had run on ahead while they were heading home from something or other. He was sure he'd begged his brother not to leave him alone in the darkening shadows, but his plea hadn't been heard or acknowledged.

He'd been able to see his brother ahead of him for a while, but then lost sight of him very 'd felt like the long shadows cast by the orange sky were going to eat him.

A cold wind had blown past him that night, and a laugh that sounded like it belonged to a young girl pierced the air. He'd turned around, thinking maybe it was someone nice, and saw a lady in a frilly blue dress standing behind him. She would have been very pretty if not for the knives she held.

Though he'd screamed for help, his brother didn't seem to hear him. The girl kept getting closer, giggling every few seconds, and somehow, Feliciano couldn't run. His legs wouldn't quite work, it seemed.

She got closer, and he remembered clearly the tears pouring down her face. Her giggle- or was it a sob?- continued to drip out, and the faint orange sun glinted off her knives.

And then, a bright white light, precisely like the one that enveloped him now, shone somewhere to their side. As it faded, he could see another figure, one he remembered perfectly. A man wearing a long black cloak and a black hat that sort of looked like a pirate's, but not quite. He also wore a white mask, making him look like some sort of superhero or something.

Despite not saying a word, Feliciano was certain that hero was there for him, as while he rushed towards the girl with the knives, he most certain grinned at him. Standing in front of him, the hero seemed to raise his hand and it seemed little shiny bits rushed from him and straight towards that girl.

The girl let out a scream, and Feliciano couldn't really remember much after that. He knew he'd told his Grandpa and Lovino about it, but they'd passed it off as some dream. Ludwig and Gilbert never seemed to believe it either, and Kiku was thoroughly convinced he'd made the entire thing up when he was little and he'd become so obsessed with it that he'd convinced himself it had really happened. Maybe it didn't help that he frequently used the hero that saved him that night as the subject of portraits, but he'd never for a second thought it had been a dream.

He was infinitely more sure of that now, as something about the way the light glowed reminded him strongly of that night. The man who was attacking him reminded him a rather lot of that girl with the knives as well, but other than the fact that they were both crazy lunatics attacking him with weird weapons in the middle of town, he wasn't so sure why.

Maybe the light that was burning around him now had something to do with that incident, and maybe it didn't, but it truly felt like it was burning him. Every part of him felt like pins had been stuck into them, and despite wanting to scream, he couldn't find the voice.

Those pins bore into him for an eternity, or maybe just a second, but when they and the light ebbed away, he didn't feel quite right. The ground felt uneven beneath his feet, or maybe just a little further away, and he felt like he was going to fall over. He tried to reach for something to steady himself, but only found another burst of light filled the air when he reached for it.

That light didn't burn him, but it did produce a flag. Okay, maybe flag wasn't quite the right word; it was more like a metal baton with a white cloth fastened to it. Basically a flag, but it felt less like a thing you wave and more like a thing you hit things with. Not like that'd help much against all those guns or anything, but at least it seemed to have distracted his attacker a bit.

His attacker seemed to get over his shock or whatever and simply started chuckling. "A white flag? That's truly the best weapon you can summon?"

"I- what?" Feliciano realized it suddenly: he'd somehow summoned that flag thing. And that light, for that matter. He had some sort of power to do this, clearly, and this meant that the man who had several guns pointed at his head wasn't going after him by some sort of fluke. That man was right about him, and that sent cold shivers down his spine.

"At very least, this means that this won't take long," the man muttered, and a sudden shot came from one of the guns circling him.

On instinct or reflex or whatever, Feliciano swung the flag as he realized the gun was firing. Some sort of shot came out of it as he did so, judging by the loud boom that pierced the air. Or maybe that was just whatever was coming out of that gun hitting the flagpole? Either way, nothing seemed to have hit him, so that was good.

"Please don't struggle, I really don't want to overdo it now," his attacker requested. Feliciano responded by waving the flag thing as wildly as he could. He was sure it was actually sending out shots now, since little bursts of light or energy or whatever seemed to be shooting all over the place.

His flag hit metal after a moment, and one of the guns was sent flying away and exploded into energy. Another of them fired at him, but Feliciano struck that one away as well.

"Would you stop doing that?" His attacker seemed annoyed more than anything, but also gave an odd sort of cough as he glared. "I told you, I don't want to turn this into a fight!"

"Leave me alone!", Feliciano cried back. He stuck down another gun, the hard clank of metal-on-metal feeling like some sort of reassurance. He'd be fine, everything was fine, he wouldn't get shot up or kidnapped or anything.

Maybe if he told himself this enough while the shots barely missed his head he'd make it true.

Metal hit metal, a few stray shots hit that man, and soon, it felt almost like he was winning. Another gun vanished, another of his shots landed, and the man staggered over to him like he was barely standing. He produced another gun, a shotgun it seemed, and held it himself rather than adding it to the two remaining in the circle.

"I never realized you'd put up such a fight," the man said weakly. As he prepared to shoot, Feliciano simply struck the man with the flag.

With a weak cry, the man stumbled back, the remaining guns shattering into light. He was confused as to why that'd worked, given he'd pretty much just knocked the gun out of his hands, and hadn't even swung particularly hard, but Feliciano wasn't about to complain.

His oddly injured attacker was enveloped by a bright light, not unlike the one he'd transformed in. "Sorry. Next time, I won't be so reckless," said the man, but the way he looked up as he said it made Feliciano think the message wasn't directed at him. The man quickly faded into that light, and was gone by the time it had faded.

For a moment, he just stood there, a bit uncertain of what had actually happened. Was this a dream? Was he about to wake up? Or was he really going crazy? Either way, he felt like he'd just been hit in the face with a steamroller or something, and also sort of like he'd just stopped crying after a good fifteen minutes of doing so. Drained, that was the best word to describe it.

"Wow! That was really cool!"

A voice came from behind him, and Feliciano jumped. Had someone seen all that? Or was someone else coming to attack him?

However, as he turned around to face the voice, he found not a person, but the green rabbit thing he'd seen earlier.

"Er, sorry, let me introduce myself," it said in a voice that didn't really sound like it should be coming from a green rabbit thing. Probably not the weirdest thing he'd seen that day, at least. "Call me 'Flying Mint Bunny'! At least, that's what people seem to be calling me. It's not really my name, but it'll work for now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FlyINg MiNt bUNny wOUlD LiKe tO mAKe a CONtrAcT wITh yOU, ItALy...
> 
> I'm joking. Flying Mint Bunny isn't Kyubey. Kyubey doesn't fangirl over its clients victories. Instead, it eats the souls of little girls like they're Toblerone. 
> 
> But whoever could that mysterious masked figure be who is described as looking exactly like Holy Rome wow I wonder. So, thanks for reading~!


	4. Mint Bunny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wh-who are you? ‘Flying Mint Bunny’? ...Is all that really true? Am I… a ‘Country’?”
> 
> Flying Mint Bunny does what all cute magic creatures do in Magical Girl stories: delivers copious amounts of exposition.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Three- Mint Bunny_

"What is your name, then?", Feliciano asked the rabbit, trying very hard not to question the fact that he was actually talking to a green rabbit fairy thing.

Flying Mint Bunny let out a sort of scoff. "I'm not giving my name to strangers. England told me to not even talk to strangers, and I'm already breaking that rule, but there's no way I'm breaking all of them."

"England?", questioned Feliciano, reminded of how his attacker had referred to him as "Italy". "You mean like the country?"

The rabbit's eyes darted around nervously. "Uh, well, this is gonna be hard to explain," it muttered. "Well, you see, um, where do I start here?"

At very least, he knew where he wanted it to start. "Can you start with that gun guy and why he wanted to hurt me and also why I can do-" Feliciano swing his flag once more, a burst of light shooting from it. "-That?"

Flying Mint Bunny nodded. "Okay, I'll start there. The guy who was attacking you was Switzerland and-"

"Wait, Switzerland?," he interrupted. That wasn't quite like what he'd remembered hearing about the country before. "I thought that place was always neutral and stuff?"

"Well, yes, but he isn't really-" The rabbit cut itself (or maybe himself or herself; Feliciano couldn't really get a read on its gender) off and gave a little frown. "Ah, you see, he was Switzerland, but then-" It stopped again and sighed. "Okay, I really think I should start at the beginning."

And somehow, he grew even more confused at this whole predicament. "Isn't that what you were doing?"

"No, like, REALLY beginning," reiterated the bunny, who cleared its throat before launching into its explanation. "It all started when humans began to congregate into communities thousands of years ago. They grew to be proud of their homelands, and the collective pride of the people manifested itself. Those manifestations, basically the spirits of the countries, they drew power from their people's love for their home and fought for the sake of their people. And by that, I mean they were basically superheroes with cool powers and stuff."

Wait, so that was how civilization came into being? That was way cooler than what he'd learned in middle school about rivers and agriculture and stuff! "Ah, that's really cool!" Vaguely, he wondered why something this cool wasn't common knowledge and sounded so fake, and added "Why have I never heard of this before?"

"It seemed too preposterous to be true," explained Flying Mint Bunny. "People started assuming that they were just myths, and then just sort of forgot the whole thing. The Countries still fought for their people, sure, but they did so in secret."

"Oh, okay," Feliciano replied. He then realized it didn't really answer his question. "So, then why was Switzerland attacking me? And shouldn't he have been speaking like, Swiss or something and not English?"

The rabbit let out a huff. "Well, for one, Swiss isn't a language," it corrected. "Switzerland has four national languages, actually, but that's beside the point. See, long after people stopped believing they existed, maybe thirty years ago, the countries started mysteriously dying off."

"But I haven't heard of any countries dying. I mean, there are like, wars and stuff, but-"

No, it doesn't work like that," Flying Mint Bunny clarified. "The countries' spirits, or whatever you want to call them, can die if they get hurt, even if they pretty much instantly come back. I mean, they aren't exactly human, and they age weirdly, but they aren't literally the countries' spirits. Like, if one dies, that doesn't do anything to the country. Think of them like… patriotism-powered robots!"

"So that guy who attacked me was a robot?", questioned Feliciano. "Wait," he added, quickly realizing who it was Flying Mint Bunny was telling him about. It wasn't his attacker that needed to be explained, but him himself. So, did that mean...

"Am I a robot too?", he questioned, a lump forming in the back of his throat.

A red flush oddly tinted the green cheeks of the rabbit fairy thing. "No, not actual robots," it clarified, and Feliciano let out a relieved sigh. "That was just a metaphor. Um, they're more like… uh, they represent their country but the country doesn't represent them, you know? It's just their jobs, and they probably would die if their country did, and they do things other than that, but they get their powers from it. Does that make sense?"

"Nope!", admitted the thankfully-not-robot cheerfully.

"Yeah, not all that great with explanations," said Flying Mint Bunny with a chuckle. "So, like I was saying, a while back all the country spirits started dying off. And not coming back anymore. No one really could figure it out, and by the time anyone had begun figuring out what was doing it, pretty much everyone was dead already and the ones who were fighting back all died too."

"Did anyone ever figure out what was going on?"

For some reason, Flying Mint Bunny gulped before answering. "S-sort of," it explained. "And by sort of, I mean that no one really knows. But, we do know that the countries' spirits ended up coming back after a while… sort of."

"'Sort of?'", repeated Feliciano. "Is this where Switzerland trying to kill me comes in?"

"Yes, actually," the rabbit said with a nod and odd laugh. "See, it seems that the countries that died were reincarnated."

Reincarnated? That word seemed to explain quite a lot, and also made Feliciano feel cold inside. "Wait, that Switzerland guy called me Italy, so does that mean I'm Italy's reincarnation?", he nervously questioned, half-hoping to be wrong.

Unfortunately, Flying Mint Bunny gave a pleased nod instead of correcting him. "Yes, very good. You caught on quicker than the others did."

"But I've never even been to Italy and I can barely speak any Italian!", exclaimed Feliciano, desperately searching for proof this wasn't the case. He- no, he couldn't be a Country Spirit thing! He was just a fairly useless and completely normal person, but he was happy with who he was. He didn't really want to be someone else. "I mean, yeah Grandma was from Italy, but I never even met her and sure I really like Italian food, but who doesn't?" Flying Mint Bunny looked at him oddly, but he kept going with more evidence that would surely prove this wrong "And I definitely don't remember being Italy, so how does this make any sense?"

"Well, from what I've gathered, most of the reincarnated ones are from America, or at least not from their country," Flying Mint Bunny explained, assuring Feliciano that no, this was not a mistake and he could not prove it to be such. "And really no one seems to have much memory of their past life. So that's how it makes sense."

"Okay…", Feliciano muttered, feeling rather dizzy. He steadied himself on his flag to stop himself from passing out, which he very much felt like he was about to do. "So, back to Switzerland trying to kill me?", he desperately requested, hoping to change the subject so he wouldn't have to accept this all just yet.

Could rabbits be embarrassed? Because Flying Mint Bunny really looked like he was. "Oh, right. See, a lot of the reincarnated ones seemed to be pursued by other reincarnated ones when they realized they were reincarnations. Wow, I just said the word reincarnation a whole bunch, didn't I?"

Feliciano chuckled. "Ehehe, yeah. But how did the reincarnated ones know they were reincarnated?"

Beady black eyes turned to the silver cross on his chest. "That necklace you're wearing, where'd you get it?"

"Funny, that's what Switzerland asked me," remarked Feliciano, recalling it with a shutter and giving much the same answer. "My Grandpa gave it to me not too long before he died."

Flying Mint Bunny gave an affirming nod. "Makes sense. From what I can tell, if a reincarnated country has an item that a loved one gives them, they draw their power from that item."

"Huh?" Those words in that sequence didn't really hit him so much as holding meaning.

"Like, instead of their powers coming from a nation who loves them, their powers come from a person who loves them," clarified the bunny. "Weaker, but it works as a power source since you can't really draw power from a country you aren't devoted to."

But how could he be drawing power from the love of his dearly departed Grandpa? "Even if they're dead?", he questioned.

The sigh Flying Mint Bunny gave at this seemed strangely morose. "Yes, even if they're dead."

For the first time in the past while, Feliciano felt like things were beginning to make sense. "Okay, so I kind of get it now. Basically, I'm the reincarnation of a superhero that fights for a country and my magic powers come from my love for my dead grandpa, and-" He realized something wasn't there that should have been. "Wait, why was Switzerland trying to kill me again?"

"I keep skipping that by accident, don't I?," remarked Flying Mint Bunny. "Um, well, it's 'cause a bunch of the reincarnated countries are teaming up to try to capture all the other reincarnated countries or at least get them on their side and do…" It trailed off and looked around for a second before giving a little rabbit shrug. "Well, I'm not quite sure, but I'm sure they're trying to do something."

"Oh, okay. Wait, if we don't know what they're trying to do, how do you know that the reincarnated countries aren't trying to team up and like, protect the world or something?" A superhero team up didn't really sound like a bad thing, to be honest, even if their methods were questionable.

Flying Mint Bunny looked at the sky for a moment before sighing again "...well, let's just put it this way: if they're good guys, they sure don't act like them."

"Yeah, good guys don't usually try to kill other good guys with guns," Feliciano admitted.

With a bright grin, the rabbit exclaimed "That was really awesome, by the way, how you took Switzerland on like that."

Heat burned at Feliciano's cheeks and he gave a warm smile. "Really? Thanks!"

"I mean, he was all like 'I shall kill you with guns!' and you were all like 'Guns don't kill people, people kill guns!' and then you killed his guns! And that's not a euphemism for anything! I mean, I knew you would be powerful, but like, wow that was awesome!"

Beneath all the praise was a buried phrase that struck Feliciano as powerful. "Why'd you think I'd be powerful?", he questioned.

"Well, you're one of the G8," Flying Mint Bunny said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Of course, this obvious thing just so happened to be something he'd never heard of in his entire life. "G8?"

"They're the eight most powerful nation spirits," explained Flying Mint Bunny, thankfully not looking at him like he was a complete idiot. "Um, they're, er, Italy, England, America, Russia, Germany, Japan, France and- oh, there's another one, I know it, but I don't remember who it was. All of them are really cool, judging by what England can do, and you're no different."

So not only was he a Country Reincarnation thing, but he was one of the strongest? "Wow! This is actually kind of cool, you know?", he remarked with a chuckle.

"Yeah!" Flying Mint Bunny exclaimed with a smile. "Of course, that means that the bad guys will definitely want you on their side, so they'll pull out all the stops to get you there."

Feliciano let out a little noise that sounded something like "Ve~?" as a shudder ran through him. "R-really?"

"Well, yeah," admitted the bunny. "But you seem pretty strong, so I'm sure you can take it. Might want to keep an eye on your friends and loved ones, though," it advised. "You know, just in case they decide to use them as bait."

He was starting to really not like this whole hero thing again. "E-everyone's in danger because of me, then?" Lovino, Ludwig, Gilbert, Kiku; flashes of their bloodstained corpses ran through his head. His eyes filled with tears at the thought. There was nothing in this world he'd less want to see. "Can I not be Italy, maybe? I really don't want anyone to be hurt."

Somehow, in its cute little face and beady little eyes, the green rabbit looked sincerely sorry for his fate. "Sorry, but you're Italy, and even if you hid that necklace, they already know about you, so I'm sure they'd try to get you to transform again somehow," Flying Mint Bunny informed him with the gravity of a final sentence. "Luckily, because of how little power you guys have like this, they won't be able to attack you for more than a few minutes at a time without getting tired. That's why Switzerland ran away: pulling out all his guns like that took too much out of him to keep fighting."

"Well, that's nice, I guess," Feliciano remarked, though it did not make him feel better in the slightest. "How long will it be until they come after me again?"

"You're probably safe for the rest of today, and maybe even tomorrow too," said the rabbit with much more cheer than it had been using. "Just try to stay with people as much as you can, they probably won't try to get you with a lot of witnesses around. Not the kind of thing you want police looking into, you know?"

Feliciano cast a glance over his shoulder. He should have been home by now, and more than anything, he really just wanted to be there. "I- er, thanks for talking to me, Flying Mint Bunny, but I should probably go warn my friends and brother about this," he said, turning around as he did so. He felt the flagpole in his hand burst into light once more, and his steps felt a bit shorter and less pained. "Tell me if you think of anything important, okay?"

Darting in front of him, Flying Mint Bunny regarded him with apprehension. "You're going to tell them?" The way it said it made it sound like an unthinkable thing. "No offence, but I really don't think they'll believe you if you tell them a magical flying rabbit told you that you were a superhero."

When worded that way, it sounded completely ridiculous, and he supposed that something like that would only be met with laughter or concern. "Oh, I guess not," he muttered, but as the green rabbit darted around in front of him, an alternative occurred to him. "You can come with me, then, and explain it to them for me. I mean, they'll have to believe you, right?"

"Ah, well, they wouldn't be able to see me," said Flying Mint Bunny plainly, as if it were obvious.

Though it shimmered with an odd haze, there was nothing that seemed incorporeal about the rabbit. "But you're right there! Why not?"

"I'm a magical creature," it explained, and its condescending nature was starting to get on Feliciano's nerves. "If you aren't magic, you can't see me. That's why Switzerland knew you had powers- 'cause you saw me."

Okay, so the easy option wasn't there, but it didn't matter. He could find some other way to explain, surely. "I-I'll think of a good way to tell them," he affirmed. "So, bye!"

As he waved, Flying Mint Bunny called after him. "I'll tell England I met you! Maybe if you two team up it'll be safer!"

England was supposed to be strong too, right? With someone like that by his side, Feliciano might be able to protect the people he loved. Such a prospect made him smile as he started walking home. "That sounds nice. Ciao, Flying Mint Bunny!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, exposition. But, like, is FMB okay? It seems like it's seen some things... Terrible things... And I would like to clarify that Canada is the eighth G8 member, not China. I know China's the one used in the show, but I thought using Canada might fit better. This isn't to say China won't have a major part, though. Actually, he may very well be both more important and powerful than Canada... So, thanks for reading~!


	5. Crimson Leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I… don’t want this. People are going to get hurt if they stay close to me, right? And I’m going to get hurt too!”
> 
> Feli is an angstmuffin. That’s about it.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Four- Crimson Leaves_

The air was growing a bitter sting to match the brilliant hues of the leaves. Autumn was all reds and yellows and browns against a backdrop of grey clouds, just like it was every year. Such a lovely sight, and one that had inspired many of Feliciano's paintings and sketches, but that day, it all felt far more breathtaking than usual.

Maple leaves hung above him as he walked the familiar route from his school to his house, and all the crimsons and vermillions shone like fire. A few golden leaves, stained brown in spots like a banana peel fluttered down, spiraling in their descent. These things he'd seen every day for a few weeks now were suddenly a bit arcane, like they were from a world he didn't really belong to, and sort of made him want to cry.

Not like he wasn't crying already, but they made the tears blurring his view of the lovely world around him even more profuse.

A once red, now nearly purple leaf crunched under his foot, turning into dust. Glancing behind him, Feliciano could almost see a bloody red trail in his wake. And a sea of reds and browns and oranges and yellows (mostly browns, though) spread before him. His feet would crush the leaves that were doomed to that fate the moment they fell, and they would scatter into a mosaic of nothingness.

Wow, when did he get all existential?

Well, being told you're some sort of superhero that puts your loved ones in danger just by existing might just do that to you, he supposed. Everything he'd thought he'd known about this world had been turned on its head in the span of… how long? He checked his phone, and found that it had only been about half an hour since school had ended. Ha, that didn't seem like enough time at all, did it?

So, as he wiped the stinging drops of saltwater from his eyes and continued leaving a trail of leafy carnage behind him as he walked, he wondered what exactly he needed to do. He was Italy now, so what does an Italy do on a Tuesday afternoon? Does Italy have to do homework? Does Italy bother his friends at work with gifs of drawings of food with faces? Are there special Italy things he needed to do now?

He supposed Flying Mint Bunny probably would have told him if there was something that needed doing in particular. Also, doing Italy things might attract more bad guys like Switzerland, right? And he really didn't want to do that again. He was already tired enough from the last one, and he wasn't entirely certain if his heart or mind or whatever could take another incident like that.

Wait, Flying Mint Bunny had told him to do something specific: stay near people. And sure, he was walking past houses with people in it, and there were cars driving past him, but he wasn't really with anyone. And where was it he was walking? To his house. Where he would be the only person present until around ten or so when Lovino got home.

The rushing of cars, distant and omnipresent sirens, and vague blasts of music coming from passing vehicles with windows rolled down were all drowned out by the beating of his heart. Alone, vulnerable, totally susceptible to more scary attacks; those would all apply to him for a good evening or so. How lovely.

Was there anywhere else he could go, maybe? Ludwig and Gilbert only lived a few miles away, so he could theoretically call Gilbert to pick him up, but that would only raise questions of why he wanted to stay over while Ludwig wasn't there and things like that.

Maybe he could make up an excuse, he invented wildly. Like, maybe there was a tree in their yard he wanted to paint or something? Wait, no, last time he'd tried to paint something over there he'd gotten some Prussian Blue smeared on the wall, and Ludwig had completely freaked out trying to clean it. No important Italy thing was worth making his friend upset over.

What else could he lie about wanting to do? Did they have any more cable channels he could want to watch? Were Gilbert's birds doing anything cool? Could he lie and say he locked himself out of his house? Ah, no, no, and there was a key under the doormat expressly so he didn't do that again. Oh, come on, there had to be something, right?

After quite a while of desperately trying to think of excuses, he'd realized that he'd pretty much ended up walking up his own driveway without realizing it. It'd taken him so long to think of ways to not be home that he was already home. Funny, sure, but really not terribly helpful.

He checked the time again. It'd be nearly six hours before Lovino got off work, and that really didn't make him feel too good about his survival chances. Flying Mint Bunny had said that he would probably be safe the rest of the day, but how did he know that was true? A rabbit had told him it, and he was about to bank his entire well being and potentially that of everyone he cared about on that?

Fumbling in his pockets for his keys, he tried to think of some way to make sure he was safe. Could he like, barricade the doors or something? But he was fighting magic people! Did magic mean they could teleport? Probably, right? Wasn't that what Switzerland had done?

Blood pounded in his ears. Switzerland and whoever he was working with would need a while to come up with an attack plan, right? Right? There was no need to be worried, he had a little while to work out what he needed to do.

What did he need to do, though? Run like a coward? Tell every single person he'd ever spoken to that they probably ought to be careful? Try to figure out how to use these weird powers he now had? ...Okay, maybe not that last one, as he still felt like he could probably fall right asleep if he wanted to.

Pushing the door to his house open, he stepped in with a sigh. He'd lived in the same house for almost as long as he could remember, but even home seemed unfamiliar now. Or maybe it was just him that seemed weird. That was probably more likely.

He closed the door behind him and took a seat on the couch. It was almost as old as he was and he could still remember how cool he'd thought it was when he was really little. The stain on the arm was his fault, as were most of the stains in the house. When he was little, he'd always knocked things over and completely forgot that he had paint on a brush, or a brush in his hand at all.

It seemed weird that all those little things like that, all the things that defined him couldn't have told him what he apparently really was. A reincarnation, so was he never really his own person? The thought scared him as much as the empty house.

There were a thousand people he wanted to talk to right now. Grandpa had always been able to help him make sense of the world, but he wasn't here anymore and the cemetery where he was buried was far away. Francis had always helped him with difficult things too, and in vain, he dialed his number, but it went straight to voicemail.

"Bonjour," the pre-recorded message said. "It seems I am unavailable at the moment, but I promise you, lovely caller, that I shall call you back tout suite. Ah, please leave a message after the- *beep*"

Feliciano cleared his throat. Might as well, right? "Um, hey, it's me, er Feliciano, I mean," he choked out after a moment. "Okay, this is going to sound real crazy, but, um, things happened and, well, how do I say this…"

A deep breath. He let out everything rapid-fire "Well, see, I got attacked by this crazy dude with guns today and he asked me about my necklace- you know, the one Grandpa Romulus gave me?- and then he pulled a whole bunch of guns out of nowhere! Like actually nowhere! It was a magic thing, I swear!

"And then this crazy light enveloped me and I magically summoned this flag thing that shoots light bullets. It was really cool, and then I beat up the gun guy and he left. But then this rabbit fairy thing called 'Flying Mint Bunny' showed up and told me that it meant I had magic powers because I'm the reincarnation of a superhero that was the country Italy? Like, the actual country! I don't get it either, I know.

"So, apparently I'm magic and that means that more people like Switzerland- er, the gun guy are gonna come after me and maybe after my friends and family? So I don't know what to do or how to feel and I'm sort of scared of being alone because I don't want to get hurt and I don't want anyone else to get hurt but I can't stop being Italy and I don't even really know what it means! So, um, please call me back, okay? Bye!"

He'd sort of forgotten how answering machines worked, because it had probably been several nevers since he'd used one, so he just let it run for a while until he figured it was probably done and clicked it off. And then, he heard a voice that was not his own, and completely freaked out.

He wasn't sure if it was involuntary or not, but the sheer force of adrenaline rushing through him brought him to his feet and summoned that bright light again. It started burning into him, and he felt like it was going to kill him before whoever was there did, but it ebbed away quickly and left him feeling a bit disoriented.

It wasn't an enemy standing before him, though. It was Lovino, who was gaping at him.

"You know, I was about to be worried that you were going crazy or something, but now I just think that I am. How did you change clothes like that?"

"Change… clothes?", Feliciano repeated. He glanced down. Despite having not paid much attention to what he'd put on that morning, he knew it wasn't what he was wearing now. White and blue, like a sailor's uniform, and entirely unlike anything he owned. Was that one of his powers too? "Uh, magic?", he provided. "I thought you were at work today?"

Lovino continued to look at him like he was some sort of ghost, and maybe he was, but it still sort of made him want to cry. "It's Tuesday, idiot," muttered his brother under his breath. "I get those off, remember? So, can you explain all of…"

A gesture was made, indicating basically all of him. "Well, that?"

"I can try," Feliciano offered, sitting back down. With another burst of light, his clothes returned to normal and he let out a yawn. "But I really don't know everything myself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... really don't like this chapter much. It just feels like filler, and a bit OOC, to be honest. However, it has things in it that progress the story, so I really can't cut it. But please know that a lot of this resulted from the fact that I was on a major Night Vale kick when I wrote this. 
> 
> I'm still glad I could at least see where this chapter failed, at least. Because of this, I made extra sure to make every subsequent chapter have a lot more going on, so besides maybe the chapter directly following this, it shouldn't hit a lull like this again! So, thanks for reading~!


	6. Pink Chalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This dream… Who is that man, what is that symbol? Is this my power too?”
> 
> Feliciano has a weird dream. About a guy with amazing eyebrow game. And also a room full of crazy chalk drawings.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Five- Pink Chalk_

Lovino took it surprisingly well, all things considered. And by this, of course, Feliciano meant that his brother took it much better than himself. And by that, he meant that instead of crying, his brother stared blankly at the floor for several minutes before shrugging and telling him that he needed to be careful.

"I don't really get this, but you're probably not the type that should get involved in things like this. You cry whenever you stub your toe, and fighting country things with guns doesn't sound like a good idea for someone like that," he'd said, or at least something close to that. "But it doesn't sound like you have a choice, right?"

He'd nodded, and his brother continued. "So, just don't do anything stupid, got it? And if you're afraid that Switzerland's gonna eat you or something, just stay with Beilschmidt until I get home. I'm sure the smell of potatoes will ward off evil or whatever."

They hadn't talked much more about it, even over dinner, which is when they normally talked about everything. Just a quick question over whether or not being Italy meant that they needed to make pasta more (yes, the answer was yes), and that was all.

So, instead of putting the rampant emotions in his head into words, Feliciano put them into a painting. A fluttering white flag punctured with bullet holes, with a spatter of blood. It was the best thing he could think to produce out of it, and it was kind of how he felt. He'd ended up having to turn the fan in his room on full blast and tie an old white t-shirt to the wall to get it to look right, and he knew he'd not perfectly replicated the appearance of his weapon, but the thought of summoning it again made his already heavy eyes droop even lower.

Was it just the magic that was making him tired? He really didn't know, but he hoped it was something else, because if he was that wiped out every time he had to do Italy stuff, he wasn't sure how he was going to function. He already tended to fall asleep in class on occasion anyways, so he couldn't even begin to think how often he'd get in trouble if this kept up.

Either way, he ended up going to sleep a lot earlier than normal, and fell asleep unusually quickly, opening himself to rather odd dreams…

* * *

_"...where am I?"_

_Italy looked around. He was in what looked to be a prison cell, from the small amount of light filtering in from a barred window well above his head. It hit plain plastered walls that were covered in chalk marks. Hatch marks congregated in one corner of the wall, changing color on occasion, and various sketches of pretty little purple flowers (heliotropes, maybe? or were they irises?) and bells. He knew they meant something, but he didn't know what._

_A sound came from beside him. He turned to see a man in a green (or at least that was how it looked in the dim light) jacket drawing on the wall with a piece of chalk. No, he wasn't drawing really, but writing in some sort of code, or maybe with runes._

_"Where are we?", he repeated his question, directing it at the man this time._

_He turned around, still holding the chalk. In the sliver of light, he could see the man had very impressive eyebrows and was giving an odd sort of smile. "Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if you could remember?", he replied, sounding more apologetic than anything._

_What was there to remember? It was important, he knew that, but he couldn't remember it. Tears began to fall from Italy's eyes and he sank to the floor. It too was covered in chalk, but in a pattern resembling a spell circle._

_There was a piece of chalk in his hand. Italy began to draw on the floor, covering it in the pink of the stick in his hand he could barely discern. He could barely see the symbol he was trying to produce, but it felt like a ladder almost. No, it was a character from another language: 目._

* * *

When Feliciano woke, he remembered the dream he'd been having rather well. Unusually well, in fact. He remembered the face and eyebrows of the man with the chalk, he remembered the flowers on the walls, and he remembered the weird symbol he'd been trying to draw. He quickly scribbled that last one down on a piece of paper on his bedside table. Okay, "piece of paper" was being generous, it was more like an old napkin, but it worked. It'd been something like 目, right? Looked Chinese or Japanese or something. He'd ask Kiku about it, he thought he remembered his friend mentioning knowing a bit of those languages.

He sketched the man as well, while he was at it. With that clear a memory of him, he sort of suspected it might be another Magical Italy Thing, and maybe that man was someone he'd meet in the future. And the flowers, he drew those too. Anything could be important if it was a magical dream thing, right?

Despite trying to go back to sleep after drawing, he just couldn't. Odd, given he'd been completely exhausted last night, but maybe that just meant he'd slept as much as he could? Was that a thing, reaching full sleep capacity? So eventually, he just gave up and decided to do morning things that did not involve going downstairs and waking his brother. Like his homework at the last possible second, and checking his phone, which he realized he hadn't done since he'd attempted to call Francis. Naturally, this meant he'd missed several texts from friends, which he felt kind of bad about but also knew that they probably didn't want to be bothered so early, so he didn't answer them.

Eventually, though, after doing some more work on the painting he'd started last night, he figured it was a reasonable enough time to start doing actual morning things, like going downstairs and making breakfast. He did these things, Lovino yelled at him to do them more quietly, and things almost felt normal.

Well, normal except for the fact that halfway through breakfast he realized he'd slept with his Italy necklace on. Maybe that would explain the weird dreams.

And so, his day began fairly normally. He walked to school, as normal, but feeling a bit weary of any little noise he heard. As normal, he was chastised by his teachers for doing his homework wrong. He tried and failed to pair up with Ludwig in a group project and ended up with Emma as normal, and as normal, he was grateful that she wasn't the type to be bitter about failed relationships, given that if she had, she wouldn't really be doing all the work for the guy she'd dated for two weeks last year. And, as normal, he was incredibly grateful when lunch rolled around.

Before he'd even sat down, though, Ludwig asked/yelled "Where were you last night and why wouldn't you answer your phone?". Feliciano didn't really know how to answer that, given he still wasn't too sure how to tell them about what had happened the previous day, and even less sure how to do that in a room full of people that could probably overhear him if he said something stupid. Therefore, he was glad that Ludwig backpedaled a bit, saying "Excuse me, that was a bit rude. What I meant to say was, er, I attempted to text you last night but received no response, and I don't recall you mentioning being busy, so I was slightly concerned."

"Oh, yeah, sorry!", he quickly apologized. "I just got caught up in a painting thing, and I was talking to Lovi 'bout some things, and, er," Oh God, even Kiku was looking at him by now, and they probably both knew that he was lying. "Um, my phone died?", he invented quickly.

They still looked at him with those eyes that very clearly expressed that they knew he was bluffing. It became a bit hard to make eye contact with either of them, even as Kiku slowly nodded and remarked "Well, check your phone whenever you can. We got some kittens at the shelter last night and I sent you some pictures."

Feliciano checked his phone quickly, flipping through the group chat the three of them had shared for the past year and a half. There were, in fact, some very cute pictures of kittens, and a little noise left the back of his throat to express this. "Aw, cute!", he exclaimed. "What are their names?"

As he asked this, he scrolled down a bit on the conversation, to see Ludwig had asked the same question. "We decided to call them Crona and Annabeth," said both Kiku and Kiku's text from last night. "Well, Heracles wanted to call it Percy at first, but then we figured out it was a girl. Luckily, I chose a gender-neutral name so that didn't happen."

"Aw, cute," Feliciano repeated, still scrolling through the rather lengthy conversation that had transpired without him. He counted two instances of Ludwig complaining about overuse of emoticons, at least, meaning that it wasn't just his fault he got annoyed by them, so that was good, right? Almost counteracted the crippling feeling of loneliness and isolation.

Speaking of crippling isolation, he remembered the 目 symbol he wanted to ask Kiku about and pulled the napkin out of his pocket. "Oh, yeah, I saw this symbol thing somewhere and I don't know what it means, but I thought you might.

Kiku looked at it a minute before shrugging. "It's Kanji, I think, but I've forgotten most of what Yao taught me," he explained. "I'm very sorry I can't be of help here. I'd call him and ask what it means, but he's… busy, and I don't want to bother him, but I'll make sure to mention it next time he calls, alright?"

"That's fine!", Feliciano assured him quickly, before he started apologizing any more, and put the napkin back in his pocket. "It's nothing really, just a little-"

He thought he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, but when he looked up, he didn't see anyone. Or at least, not anyone he could say words about. Instead, he saw Flying Mint Bunny hovering over him, watching him with those sort of creepy black bead eyes. "Hey, I need to talk to you for a second!", it said, somehow unheard by anyone but himself.

Both of his friends looked at him oddly, apparently noticing he was staring at absolutely nothing in shock. So, he laughed awkwardly and said something really believable, like "Oh, I totally forgot, I was supposed to go pick a thing up from a teacher! Er, be right back!"

So he quickly rushed out of the lunchroom, Flying Mint Bunny trailing him wordlessly, and into a storage closet nearby. "Okay, so what is it?", he questioned.

"I talked to England, and he said he wanted to meet you so you two could begin fighting together!", it cheerfully proclaimed. "But he has things to do, so he said he wouldn't be able to meet you until Saturday. Is that good?"

"Y-yeah…", Feliciano muttered. So things would work out with England, and he'd be able to meet him? Saturday was just like, three days away, right? He'd be able to survive until then, right? "Will I be alright until then?"

In the dim closet light, he could make out a shrug from the rabbit. "Probably. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

He quickly pulled out the paper in his pocket. "Well, I had a weird dream last night, does that count? There was this guy, and he was drawing on the wall in this prison place? I remembered a few of the drawings and what the guy looked like, so I drew them in case it was important."

Flying Mint Bunny seemed to lean on the door a bit to open it further to see the drawings as it yanked the napkin from his hand. It then gasped a little. "That's Arth- I mean England!", it exclaimed a bit too loudly for a secret meeting, and he was about to ask it to be a bit quieter until he remembered that he was the only one able to hear it. "I mean, that's like, exactly what he looks like. You got the eyebrows and everything! Wow, you're good at this art thing."

"Thanks," Feliciano whispered. "So, what does it mean, then? That I was able to dream about some guy I'd never met before?"

"I've heard a few others mention weird dreams, but nothing like this," Flying Mint Bunny mused. "Then again, they probably aren't as good artists as you, so that might be part of it. Those other symbols, I think that thing's Chinese? And I don't recognize the flower things."

He was handed back the paper, and Flying Mint Bunny exited the closet. "Anyways, I've gotta go patrol. I'll let you know if I see anyone that could be a threat," it said, and then flew off.

Feliciano headed back into a very awkward lunch conversation and proceeded to try to avoid the subject of what had happened the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit slow, but seriously, things get better after this. And you know what? Because this is AO3, and not Fanfiction.net, if you want to know what that kanji means before it's said in the story, just Google it. Well, or go look at the story on Fanfiction.net, because it's already been explained over there. 
> 
> Next chapter, you get to finally see someone else's POV. No bonus points for guessing who. Also, interesting that dream!Feli always calls himself Italy, isn't it? Well, thanks for reading~!


	7. Black Pen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m a bit worried about Feliciano. He’s been acting strangely, don’t you think? But what can we do?”
> 
> Ludwig worries about his beloved “friend”. Who his brother ships with him.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Six- Black Pen_

"Hey, Ludi, ask my future brother-in-law if he wants the awesome me to make him dinner," Gilbert loudly requested. Ludwig kind of wanted to punch him, as he always did whenever he insisted upon calling Feliciano… well, that. It seemed that stupid comment he'd made when he was six would follow him to the grave, or at least to the altar.

"Ask him yourself, he's right there," he replied flippantly, indicating the position of the person in question, which happened to be sitting right exactly next to him, with his head.

Gilbert gave an obnoxious laugh. "Yeah, right. Only you can reach him when he's like that."

By "like that", Ludwig assumed he meant drawing, as Feliciano had taken off the cross necklace he always wore and was sketching it in a notebook, one of the several he kept on himself at all times. As much as he hated to admit it, getting through to Feliciano while he was drawing was rather difficult unless it involved gelato, so he poked the artist next to him a few times with the black pen he'd been copying his work schedule for the next week into his planner with.

Though it took a moment, the brunette did eventually look up. "Yeah?", he questioned, somehow making the word sound as if had two syllables rather than one in a somewhat endearing manner.

"Gilbert wanted to know if you were staying for dinner."

A nod, and a little laugh. "That'd be really great, thanks!"

"We're havin' _Königsberger Klopse_ , that good?", Gilbert questioned, and was met with an enthusiastic nod before Feliciano returned to his drawing. Ludwig flipped back to that day in his planner, and found that actually wasn't what they'd planned on having, meaning his brother changed the plans quickly to accommodate their guest's tastes, as Feliciano had mentioned several times that he quite liked the dish. Honestly, it seemed his brother either liked Feli more than himself, or took that whole "future brother-in-law" thing dead serious. Or, more likely, both were true.

Familiar scents soon filled the room, and Ludwig went back to writing things in his planner, noting how Kiku had chosen to work an unplanned shift at the animal shelter that evening. Yes, as he was occasionally told by dates, Gilbert, or even Kiku, it might be a bit pointless to write down events in a planner that had already occurred, but it was a habit. Despite his brother's best attempts to make him replicate his almost religious insistence upon recording each day's occurrences in a diary, Ludwig had never really taken to the format. If one wanted to remember the past, a narrative seemed like a poor choice to do it in, so instead he wrote events alone with timestamps and in differently colored pens for each person he needed to chart.

Given the types he ran with, it was very fortunate he had this habit, as some days he seriously wondered if Feliciano would remember anything at all without his reminder. His brother was also a bit more concerned with his own "awesomeness" and birds than punctuality, and he wasn't exactly sure whether or not his manager at the convenience store he worked at part-time would remember when his shift ended without constant reminder, or believe him without being explicitly shown it in the planner. In other words, he was about the only person he knew who cared about order in the slightest.

Just as he was switching to Feliciano's green pen to note that he apparently planned to stay at their house every evening for the rest of the week until approximately 10:15, he noted his phone's buzzing and checked it. It was from Kiku, and not within the group text they kept with Feliciano, which was rather rare, but understandable given the subject matter.

_Kiku: Is Feli still acting weird?_

Before answering, he glanced over at his friend, who was frowning slightly as he drew the necklace.

_Ludwig: Not really. Won't say anything about lunch still._

He got a reply after a moment.

_Kiku: Not even to you? Must really be something, then._

"Not even to him", what was that supposed to mean? He sent a message saying this, but his only reply was a winking emoticon, followed by "But really, what do you think's going on?"

_Ludwig: Maybe something's up at home? Like, his brother's sick or something?_

That was truthfully all he could think of, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew it to be false. If Lovino was ill or something, Feli would probably tell him the second it occurred.

_Kiku: Nah. Maybe he's just getting sick?_

Ludwig turned to look at the person in question for a minute. He seemed fine, for the most part, save for giving the occasional, contagious yawn. The lighting in that room was always weird, though, especially with the television blaring flashes of random colors, so perhaps he just wasn't seeing right.

Quickly, he placed the back on his hand on Feli's forehead. Didn't seem abnormally warm, but perhaps that was just because he pulled it away quickly due to his friend's giggling and comment of "What, I'm not getting Potato Fever like Lovino says, right?"

"N-no," he muttered under his breath, a bit embarrassed he couldn't think of a better method to check temperature. Still, it gave him a proper response.

_Ludwig: Doesn't have a fever._

The response that gave was rather juvenile, and sounded like the sort of thing Gilbert might say.

_Kiku: How'd you check? The lips are the most sensitive part of the body, so I've heard that's the best way to check for a fever._

There was only one answer worthy of that : "Shut up."

It took abnormally long for Kiku to answer, but when he did, it was with a shrugging emoticon, followed by:

_Kiku: Well, I'm out of ideas, so we should probably just ask him what's up directly._

As good an idea as that might sound, it also happened to sound rather similar to the events that had transpired during lunch after Feliciano had returned without the thing he'd insisted he'd had to go get from a teacher.

_Ludwig: Didn't we try that?_

_Kiku: Do you have any better ideas?_

The several minutes that went by without him responding seemed to answer well enough for him.

_Kiku: Thought so._

* * *

And so, the two of them orchestrated plans to confront Feliciano about all his recent oddness after school the next day. This was probably a good thing, as he ran off suddenly again during lunch, claiming he had some papers he had to pick up, and returned five minutes later without any of said papers. Also, he nearly fell asleep during History, but that happened often enough that it seemed a bit pointless to worry about.

The plan was simple enough: confront him head-on with no one else around, and surely he'd say things. Feliciano was terrible at keeping secrets, after all, so it was sure to not take much to elicit a confession.

However, it seemed that they had underestimated him a bit, as when they enacted this plan, it quickly went off track.

He led him to as far as he could conceivably lie and say Gilbert was to pick them up, with Kiku following from a distance, and then as soon as they were certain no one else was within earshot, asked him what was going on, just as they had planned, but got a much different answer than they were expecting.

"I-I'm totally fine," Feliciano insisted, the stammering and rising pitch of his voice contradicting his words. "Like, really! Nothing's wrong, I just- well, I-I-I don't know, lately I've been sort of feeling like I'm totally useless compared to you two, but that's about it!"

"What on earth would possibly make you think that?", Ludwig questioned, not buying the explanation for a second.

Feliciano looked around for a moment, as if desperately searching for something to further his lie. "Ah, well, I dunno, like, I'm disorganized and can't drive and I just sort of suck in comparison to you two, you know what I mean?"

"That isn't what you mean," Kiku insisted. "Please, we're your friends, and whatever it is, you can tell it to us."

"Uh, well, I've kind of been feeling a little left out lately," Feliciano softly said, and was either miraculously not lying or miraculously lying well this time. "Like, when I forgot to answer the other day you guys just had fun without me."

A laugh came from Ludwig. "That's about how I feel whenever you all are talking art stuff and expect me to know what you mean," he admitted, and despite the annoyed look Kiku gave for continuing the derailing of the point of this conversation, it felt nice to get that off his chest. "And I am very sorry I don't know what a 'Copic Marker' is or if it's good that you get twenty 'reblogs' on the photograph you post, but all that sounds like a foreign language to me."

"I- I'm sorry!", Feliciano quickly apologized. "I didn't realize we were confusing you! I can teach you some stuff if you want, or we can just not bring you into it, whatever works."

Sighing, Kiku butted in. "I apologize as well, but I truly don't understand how you could feel left out. If anything, I am the third wheel, given you two have known each other perhaps three times as long as you have me, and I fear that my friendship could never compare to what you two have and I'll fade from your memory after you two get married and live happily ever after. However, that is besi-"

"I'd never forget you!", Feliciano insisted a bit too loudly. "Neither of us will! When me and Ludwig have kids, you can be their crazy uncle Honda who buys them stuff we won't and is generally their more favorite! And we can leave them with a babysitter or Francis or something and go do fun things, just like always!"

One of Kiku's rare smiles surfaced. "That will be fun. And our children will probably be as close as you two, don't you think?"

"As us two?", Ludwig repeated, and with an awkward laugh, it registered that it almost sounded like Kiku was talking about only two sets of children. "You know, it sort of sounds like you're saying that Feliciano and I are getting married."

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Kiku replied "I thought that was obvious," and Ludwig turned bright red. He didn't really get the opportunity to object, though, as an odd cracking sound pierced the air and drew their attention.

Approaching them was a woman holding a pitchfork, but somehow, this was not the odd thing about her. No, that would be the various long, scarf-looking extensions coming from her, which were most certainly moving on their own. It was a horrific effect, like some sort of monster had assumed the form of an inconspicuous bystander and its true form was beginning to leak out.

Feliciano looked at her not with horror, but with clear annoyance. "Who are you?", he loudly questioned, receiving no answer. He then sighed and clutched the cross around his neck. "Well, whoever you are, I won't let you come after my friends!"

A strangely familiar light enveloped his friend, and as it faded, it revealed a slightly older looking Feliciano holding an enormous white flag. "Now, in the name of Pasta, I shall defeat you!", he declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an ongoing list of weird things I have had to research in the name of writing. That dish Prussia mentions towards the beginning? Yeah, that's one of the stranger ones. I had to find a traditional Prussian dish that sounded like something Italy would like, and a thing with meatballs and white sauce and capers sounded about right. Also, the whole exchange at the end of the chapter was based on a test thing I wrote to get the dynamics of the Axis trio in this down. It turned out almost too good not to incorporate in some measure, so it became the basis of their quasi-argument. So, thanks for reading~!


	8. Carmine Drops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “N-no! I never wanted you two to get involved! So, in the name of pasta, I will punish you, creepy scarf lady!”
> 
> Feliciano’s day gets ruined by Ukraine. Who uncharacteristically wants to impale him with a pitchfork.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Seven- Carmine Drops_

It seemed to be just Feliciano's luck that the enemy country Flying Mint Bunny had warned him about earlier would show up while he was talking to his friends. So he didn't hesitate in transforming in front of Ludwig and Kiku- that probably would have been how he revealed himself anyways- and prepared to try to make the scarf lady go away so they wouldn't be hurt.

He didn't really think about how he expected his friends to react, but it definitely wasn't the way they did. For one, he didn't really expect Kiku to correct him, pointing out as soon as he'd let out his heroic one-liner "It's supposed to be 'I will punish you', not 'I shall defeat you'."

"Is this really the time for that?", Ludwig questioned, and out of the corner of his eye Feliciano could see he had picked up a large tree branch.

Kiku gave a hasty "If he intends to be a magical girl, he ought to do it correctly" in response.

Another of the enemy's scarves cracked like a whip, and she was definitely moving closer. Really, she looked a lot like the knife girl that had attacked him when he was little, but thankfully wasn't giggling. She was still smiling, though, and that was creepy enough, as she did so warmly and while one of her scarves curled around the pitchfork she was holding and took it from her hand.

That pitchfork was flung across the parking lot and towards Ludwig, so Feliciano quickly sent one of the Light Shot Things to knock said pitchfork off track. Ludwig made a move as if to grab it, but another of the scarves picked it up instead.

"Try hitting her with one of your attacks!", instructed Kiku, and Feliciano was once again more than a little confused. He was taking it better than even Lovino had, even in the middle of a fight. Was that just because this was sort of like the kind of stuff that happened in animes, or was now just not really the time to question things?

The latter was definitely true at the moment, as a pink ribbon ripped through the air towards them and quickly caught Kiku's arm. A small noise of shock came from his friend, and Feliciano swung his flag wildly in the direction of said ribbon, ripping it to shreds before it could do anything.

Another crack announced the moving of another scarf thing, this time towards Ludwig. Without really thinking, Feliciano rushed towards the blond, sending a few light blasts around where the ribbon-scarf thing fluttered for good measure. It only blew a few holes through it, though, and it continued to slither through the air until he felt something brush up against his ankle.

He felt it wrap around his foot, tugging back at him to throw him off balance, so he tried to plant his flag in the ground to keep himself from being pulled away. Another ribbon soared through the air, fluttering right for his arm, and he tried to raise his flag once more, but found a stick had already begun poking at it.

Ludwig bravely tried to ward off the scarf thing with his large tree branch, but it wrapped around said stick instead and threw it to the wayside, the impact shattering it into splinters. His defender let out a huff of annoyance and picked a stone off the ground instead.

As Ludwig threw the stone towards the woman, being swatted away by another scarf, Feliciano found that the pull on the scarf around his ankle had lessened, as if his attacker could only focus on one of her many tendrils at a time. He took this opportunity to send another wave of light blasts at the ribbon ensnaring him, and a few more at the woman.

His attacker, in turn took the pitchfork out of her hand with one of her scarves once again and threw it towards him. It came quicker than he was expecting, and Feliciano didn't have time to get out of the way.

"Feliciano!", Ludwig yelled, but the weapon was already entering his body, as he could tell from the grimace his friend bore as his shout tapered off.

Oddly, he definitely felt an impact, but it didn't really feel like what he thought being impaled would feel like. From the way his friends were looking at him, it must have looked bad, but he really didn't feel much pain from it. Honestly, it hurt more to look down long enough to pry it out than it actually did to take it out, and even then there really wasn't very much blood.

Another ribbon thing coiled around the pitchfork as he pulled it out, and in a burst of inspiration (or fit of madness, really either worked,) Feliciano grabbed the weapon as it was pulled into the air. The scarf began swinging wildly, as if trying to shake him off, and he somehow managed to hang on with one hand while using the other to wave his white flag, sending sprays of light into his assailant.

Around the time Feliciano started getting real dizzy, the scarf suddenly dropped him, and the pavement hit him even harder than the pitchfork. Things were spinning and blurry and his head hurt like crazy, but he could definitely make out that the pink ribbon scarves were disintegrating, and vaguely he heard the woman let out a cry of pain. A burst of light enveloped her, just like the one Switzerland had disappeared into the other day, and she did the same.

The next thing he was aware of was a hand resting on the back of his head, and another grabbing his wrist as if to check his pulse. "I'm fine!', he insisted over the pounding of his head. "Just sort of dizzy."

He turned his hand to grab the one that was checking his pulse to pull himself up. Ludwig's eyes met his own, looking more upset than surprised. "What the hell was that?", he questioned, and Feliciano realized he really didn't know how to answer that.

"Um, well, magic?", he attempted. "Or well, I mean, it was magic and um, she was attacking me and-"

"I noticed that," Ludwig flatly stated. "More precisely, tell me when this started, how you were able to use this 'magic', why she was attacking you, why she left, and how you were able to take being impaled so easily."

Even at times like this when his heart was racing wildly and his head was pounding black, he was so glad he had Ludwig to make things simpler. Just answering a few questions was so much easier than making everything up from scratch again. "Um, it started two days ago after school when this guy with a bunch of magic guns attacked me and I transformed like I did and used that flag thing to beat him. Apparently, I'm the reincarnation of a magical warrior that represents the country Italy or something? Yeah, I don't get it either, but that lady was probably from the same group that Switzerland- er, the guy who attacked me yesterday was working for?

"At least, that's what Flying Mint Bunny said. He knows a lot more about all this than I do, and also he's a flying green rabbit. Weird, right? But I think she just ran out of magic, so she had to retreat, and we should probably be safe for now. Oh, and the pitchfork. Yeah, I don't get that either, but it's probably a magic thing."

After he stopped talking, Ludwig stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, I don't understand this at all. You're… a country?"

"I understand it just fine," Kiku countered, stepping around and sitting down to better join the conversation. "Essentially, you're like Sailor Moon, except instead of being Moon, you're Italy. So, Sailor Italy. Is that correct?"

Sailor Moon… Feliciano had watched a few of those when he was little, and from what he remembered, it did seem kind of like this, so he nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

The closest thing he could equate Kiku's expression to was that one time he'd seen a super rare figurine while they were out shopping at some random store, and even that didn't quite cut it. Honestly, it was sort of freaking him out. "So you truly are a magical girl…" he muttered, as if entranced by the words. "That's incredible."

"Don't be ridiculous, he's clearly not a girl," Ludwig countered. "But I must admit, it is a bit cool. Excepting the part where you're impaled with pitchforks."

A warm flush came to his case. He'd not really expected his friends to be impressed by all of this. "It- it's really scary though," he said, looking between his friends. If either of them had been hit with that pitchfork, surely it wouldn't have been so painless. The image of carmine drops falling from wounds on either of them would have been enough to break him, and even now it was burning tears into his eyes. "You saw, we could have been really hurt and I'm so sorry I brought you into thi-"

He was cut off by Ludwig quickly enveloping him in a hug. "Don't apologize," he said softly, words as mesmerizing and reassuring as the contact. "From what I can gather, this isn't anything you could control, right?"

Feliciano nodded into Ludwig's shoulder.

"Besides, we're fine, aren't we?"

"I'm scared, though," Feliciano muttered, muffled by shirt. "Next time, what if-?"

Kiku cut him off. "If you were that amazing in your second fight, just think how much better you'll be once you've had a bit more experience?"

"And we'll support you however we can," vowed Ludwig. "Even if we aren't magical… girls… Can we think of something better to call it?"

A pad of paper and pen were produced from Kiku's bag. "Gladly. I'll think of some cool attack names too."

"Attack names?", Ludwig said flatly. "What, to call out like an idiot while in battle? Wouldn't that just tell them what he's doing?"

"We can call those shots he sent from his flag 'Light Bullet', or maybe 'Blessed Shot'," Kiku suggested, unphased.

Smiling, Feliciano pulled Ludwig closer. His warmth and their words made him feel like things really would be okay, and if they believed he could do it, he was sure he could be Sailor Italy just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehehe, I don't have much to say about this chapter, other than the fact that Japan's fangirling over this amuses me. And that Japan's suggestion for a move name was supposed to be "Holy Shot", but I quickly realized how that sounded a bit too similar to, er, something else. Oh, and that I'm not a huge fan of writing fight scenes. Yeah, that's about it. Thanks for reading~!


	9. White Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This… is all so wonderful. It’s just like a Magical Girl manga, but I only wish I could play Sakura rather than Tomoyo. Ah, Heracles, right… I must apologize for my absences.”
> 
> Kiku muses on how much his life has begun to resemble a Shoujo manga. And how he seems to only be a supporting character, at best. Well, at least he has a cute friend to talk about cats with.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Eight- White Sea_

Cold autumn air gathered around Kiku as he traced familiar steps from the employee parking of the animal shelter to the door. Leaves fell like cherry blossoms, giving the whole thing a terribly shoujo-esque feel. If he was watching this scene play out in black and white panels, he might have thought the protagonist was going to confess their love to their Senpai.

He, unfortunately, wasn't the one living an anime's plot, though. No, that would be Feliciano, or rather Nation Scout Italy. After some careful deliberation, he'd decided that would be the name he gave his friend's kind, the magical warriors who apparently had once fought in the shadows to defend their countries. The plot was so beautifully set, with hesitant hero Feliciano and his noble love interest Ludwig all set to go against the mysterious rogue Magical Girls. Kiku only wished he could have a better part to play than Incidental Friend Side Character, but if it meant he would see something like this unfold in real life, he was more than happy to play the Tomoyo to his friend's Sakura.

And "Tomoyo" had some explaining to do to his co-worker as to why he wouldn't be able to work that day. Doing so in person seemed to be a bit more polite than just calling Heracles up to say why he couldn't come, and countless times less rude. It wasn't as if he could just say that he'd decided to take the day off to discuss Magical Girl things and battle strategies with his friends after all, but he hadn't been able to concentrate the day before with all the thoughts of what he'd seen with the scarf-wielding woman. If he didn't come in, Heracles would be worried and think he was ill, and he didn't want to cause anyone to worry.

As he opened the employee's door, the scents of the place hit him, just like the stale air. Unsurprisingly, Heracles was already there, sitting on the floor and dividing out bowls of cat food. A few of the cats, as always, were wandering around the back room, one (Sorrel, was it?) continually rubbing up against his friend. "Um, excuse me…", he muttered, half feeling like he was interrupting.

Heracles quickly looked up and smiled at him. "Oh, I was worried you wouldn't be coming today," he said very softly, almost drowned out by the clinking of the falling pellets against the ceramic bowls. "Are you feeling better?"

"Y-yes," Kiku quickly assured him. He hadn't counted on his absentmindedness causing worry, and he did hate to lie or worry anyone. "Even still, I- I cannot work today."

A concerned frown spread across his coworker's face as he tried desperately to even out the amount of food in each bowl. (He always did this, as he said he didn't want any cat to feel less loved than another.) "...eh? But you're here."

"Yes. I am. But I can only stay for a minute." Kiku tried to search for a reason that wouldn't be a lie as to why he could not stay, the best he could find being a simple "something came up."

"That's too bad," Heracles remarked, sounding oddly upset by this. "Why did you come all the way out here to tell me that, then? Just wanted to see Crona?", he questioned, gesturing to the small grey tabby that was lapping up a few of the pieces of food that had fallen on the floor.

Kiku bent down and patted the kitten's head. Its warmth and movement felt odd, but also comforting. "...Yes. And telling you I could not come over the phone seemed rude. I truly am sorry."

A smile forced itself onto Heracles. "Don't worry about it…", he muttered, rummaging in his pocket for something, withdrawing a closed fist a moment later and quickly shoving it behind his back. "Oh, but before you go, I wanted to thank you."

Thank him? Whatever did he mean by that? Kiku had only been working there for a few months, and being not even a fraction the help Heracles was. "Oh? What for?"

"Ever since you've started helping me out, things have been so much easier around here," Heracles explained, like it was plainly obvious.

Burning overtook his cheeks. He didn't deserve such praise, given the person congratulating him was a veritable god of animal caretaking. "There is no need to thank me," he quickly insisted. "I haven't helped nearly as much as I ought to, and-"

A slow blink, and then Heracles shook his head. "You've helped plenty. Besides, just having someone- well, someone who can talk back to me keeping me company is enough."

Kiku said nothing. He simply noted that his coworker also turned red when saying this, and that hesitance was extremely cute. Really, Heracles could rival the kittens in cuteness at times, even if he would never dare admit this out loud.

The object folded up in Heracles's fist was shoved at Kiku with a barely audible "Here, I got you something." His hand opened, revealing a golden bell attached to a choker necklace, like what a token cute cat companion might wear in an Anime. "I know it's sort of silly, but I… thought it would look cute... on you…"

Well, he was right about it being silly. Taking it in his hand, Kiku was stricken by how much it looked like something that absolutely no one would wear outside of costume. Still, it was a gift, and one from a dear friend; he couldn't be rude about it. "...It's very-"

"You don't have to wear it," Heracles cut him off, blushing furiously and refusing to look him in the eye. "Sorry, it really is silly."

That had been a rude response, and he felt very bad for it. Holding back a sigh, he placed the black band around his neck, hooked the strap together, and turned it around so the bell was pressing against his throat. "...No, I like it. I like it very much," he insisted, and despite the discomfort the accessory brought, it seemed to make Heracles feel better.

He would have said more, but Kiku's phone went off, repeating the little jingle that signaled a call several times before Kiku stood up and checked it. Feliciano was calling, and his heart dropped just a little. It was very rare that his friend would call him, meaning it was likely some sort of emergency. "I… should go...", he abruptly remarked, turning towards the door. "I can't promise I'll be able to come tomorrow, but I will try my hardest.

"Oh, alright. I'll see you tomorrow, then," a sad voice called back, but Kiku didn't allow himself the time to dwell on it, as he answered Feliciano's call and shoved his phone to his ear as he exited the building and was blinded by the already low-hanging sun.

"Hey, you told me to call you if any Magical Girl things happened, right?", Feliciano's voice answered, sounding rather out of breath. "Uh, well, Magical Girl thing… happened. Some guy's attacking me. With a crossbow. And crossbows really actually hurt and we're right by my house so can you hurry and like, run him over or something?"

A little more than a day ago, such a call would be shocking. Now, though, Kiku was able to respond with a calm "I'm on my way." as he got into his car, hung up the phone and proceeded to drive over to his friend's house.

He saw the battle before he saw Feliciano's house, and he wondered slightly why no one seemed to have called the police about it, given the residential street was littered with marks made by the impact of attacks. It must have been going on for some time before he arrived, as Feliciano looked pretty much completely exhausted as he hit arrows away from himself with swipes of his flag.

Surprisingly, parallel parking while your friend shot light bullets at a tired-looking man in a green military uniform, who was firing arrows from behind a massive shield was not as hard as one might imagine, and he managed to get out of the car fairly quickly to.. help, he supposed. (Really, he would have assumed it was more for moral support if it wasn't for the fact that Ludwig was there and attempting to charge the enemy with a tree branch from behind.)

"Three of you?", the man who was attempting to shoot at Feliciano with one hand and block the tree branch with a shield with the other remarked. "I was told I'd only be pursuing one target, and I really don't want to get civilians involved if I don't have to."

"If you didn't want us to get involved, you shouldn't have attacked him!", Ludwig cried back, doing surprisingly well with such rudimentary weaponry.

This man must have been a country, right? "Who is he?", Kiku questioned aloud, and an answer came from somewhere behind him.

"That's Lithuania!", a voice exclaimed, and looking up, Kiku saw something that could only have been the "Flying Mint Bunny" Feli had attempted to describe to them. Frankly, it looked like a typical Magical Girl mascot character, with a candy color scheme and cute looking wings. It was a little creepier in real life than in illustrations, but he'd still gladly buy a plush of it.

"Flying Mint Bunny!", Feliciano greeted. "Lithuania" looked a bit annoyed and continued to block a rather confused looking Ludwig's attacks. "What's his power, arrows?"

The rabbit shook its head. "No, his power is, well, endurance. You've been fighting him for a while, right? Longer than Switzerland or Ukraine?" Feliciano nodded. "Well, that's because his power is to have his magic last longer than them."

"Well, of course," Lithuania remarked. "Why do you think I was sent when they failed. But regardless, you have no place in this battle."

He sent an arrow towards Flying Mint Bunny, which simply bounced harmlessly off, leaving Kiku wondering how strong the creature really was. Regardless, this seemed to be unforgivable in Feliciano's eyes, as he sent a larger Light Bullet at Lithuania and cried "Don't hurt him!"

"Excuse me, but who are you all talking to?", Ludwig flatly asked. "I presume it's a magic thing, but from here, it just looks like you're just talking to nothing."

Kiku blinked, half expecting the creature to phase out of sight. Feliciano had said that Flying Mint Bunny couldn't be seen by normal humans, right? "I can see him just fine," he remarked. "Why is that?"

Someone gave a strangled gasp, but whether it was the rabbit or Nation Scout Italy, he couldn't tell. "That must mean you have powers like ours!", Flying Mint Bunny exclaimed. "That bell, did someone important give it to you?"

The weight around his throat felt greater, and he remembered he was still wearing the choker Heracles had given him. "I suppose you could say that," he muttered.

"You must be a Country, then! Think really hard, try to use your powers!", Flying Mint Bunny directed.

His… powers? Was that even possible? Closing his eyes, he tried to find something like that within himself. Something like a warm light seemed to spread from his throat, and when he opened his eyes, he only saw a sea of white.

Suddenly, that warm light became burning hot, and he desperately held back a scream. It hurt, it truly hurt, like his whole body was being torn apart, but when it faded, he felt stronger somehow. The world came back into focus, and with a quick glance down, he saw his clothes had been replaced with some sort of white uniform.

"You- you're-?" Feliciano sputtered, looking as horrified as he did amazed.

"He must be Japan!", Flying Mint Bunny exclaimed, and somehow that felt right. Yes, he was Japan's Nation Scout, and he knew this was as true as the sparks of power surging at his fingertips.

Lithuania simply sent a greeting arrow at him. "Lovely, but I can still outlast two of you."

Though in all honesty, he shouldn't have known what to do, somehow, Kiku felt more sure of his actions than he had in his entire life. He wasn't Tomoyo, he was Sailor Mercury: the first to join the hero's side and plenty strong in his own right. Water was pooling in his hands, and with a simple swipe, a blade of it was shot at Lithuania.

Another pulse, and a shot of water was sent at the enemy's feet. He fell back, dropping his crossbow as he did so. More warm light seemed to envelop Kiku's hand, and it quickly closed around the hilt of a katana. Charging Lithuania as he struggled to get up, he didn't think for a minute of anything but running it through the person who had been attacking himself and his friends.

More Light Bullets came from Feliciano, and all at once, they hit Lithuania. He stumbled back, looking unharmed but extremely tired. With a laugh, he muttered "Guess I was too weak as well…" and vanished in a spray of light.

Panting, Kiku felt the power around him fall away, the katana vanishing as well. Both his friends looked at him, but Ludwig was the only one to speak: "So, you're magic too?"

"It would seem so," Kiku said. "Japan, I think."

"So where'd you get that bell?", Feliciano asked. "Flying Mint Bunny said it was your power thing, but I've never seen you wear it before."

He… got his power from the bell. With a horrific shudder, he realized what this meant. "Uh, Heracles gave me it a minute ago. I suppose I'll have to wear it… regularly…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, blatant Giripan. I knew I wanted a cat bell thingy to be Japan's Transformation Trinket right from the start, and I knew I wanted Greece to give it to him. Because it would cause him misery, constantly wearing such a thing, and Japan's misery fills me with joy. Trust me, if I didn't like him, I wouldn't be making his life more difficult. In fact, you can pretty easily judge how much I like a character by how much misery I put them through. So, thanks for reading~!


	10. Red Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So we finally meet! But… why do I get such a bad feeling about this? England’s our ally, right?”
> 
> Feliciano finally meets England. He’s, well, actually kind of a jerk. Especially to Ludwig.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Nine- Red Light_

_Rose petals rippled in the air around Italy. Hazy pangs burned at his head. He barely knew where he was, but knew that it wasn't a place he really wanted to be._

_Someone rushed ahead of him- a young, blond boy wearing a sailor uniform and carrying a cannon. Another person passed him- a young ponytailed girl carrying an enormous paintbrush that left trails of green ink splattered across the ground as she practically flew through the battlefield. He thought he felt something else brush past him, but didn't see a thing but small ripples through some of the girl's paint splatters._

_Ahead of them was a man with a long coat and pink scarf. He looked calm, unafraid of the people charging towards him, but he didn't attempt to fight back. The young boy shot a cannonball at him, but he didn't flinch as it approached him. It simply bounced off of him, like it was rubber rather than metal._

_With a start, Italy realized someone was standing behind him. He quickly turned around to face a familiar figure: a man wearing black robes and a white mask. He held a spear in one hand, and took Italy's hand in his other. The two ran up to the scarf-wearing man, who turned from calm to livid the second he noticed the masked hero._

_A thousand needles of ice were produced from the scarf-wearing man and charged straight for the two of them, that terrifying fury being kept on them all the while._

* * *

"We're nearly there," a voice told Feliciano, accompanied by a few taps on his shoulder. Quickly, he opened his eyes. He was in Ludwig's car, (they'd been driving to meet up with England, right?) leaning over in the middle of the back seat, and an odd heat, like the one a computer gets when it's on too long was radiating from the metal cross around his neck. Had it caused him to have such a weird dream?

He decided to ask for a second opinion. "Uh, so if you have a really weird dream when you're wearing your transformation cross thingy and it's really hot when you wake up, does that mean magic things?", he questioned.

"Doubtful," Ludwig answered, very clearly more focused on driving than anything he'd said. "Not everything happens because magic. It's more likely you just had a weird dream."

"Actually, Magical Girls have precognitive dreams quite a lot," Kiku corrected. "What was it about? Were you fighting a mysterious enemy?"

The details were hazy, but that sounded sort of right. "I think so... " More came back to him, like the image of a pink scarf like the one the lady had attacked them with a few days ago. "Wait! Yeah, there was this really scary looking guy with a scarf like that lady from the other day, except instead of trying to kill us with pitchforks he had like icicles or something. And that hero guy that saved me when I was little was there and so were some little kids with weird weapons."

A weird sigh came from Kiku. "Well, that could be prophetic, but I'm not really sure. We should ask Flying Mint Bunny. It would probably know."

"How did I get to a point in my life where my friends consult an invisible rabbit for advice?", Ludwig questioned under his breath.

"Good question!", Feliciano said. When put like that, yeah, it sounded completely insane. And maybe it was, but whatever. They were nearly to where England had told them (okay, told Flying Mint Bunny to tell them) to meet him, and probably everything would be fine once there were three of them fighting together.

Three… of them… Right. Kiku was part of this now too. Was that awesome? Maybe, but it also meant that he really didn't have much way to keep his friend safe, or any good way to dissuade Ludwig from coming with them. Still, it meant he wouldn't be defenceless if some country attacked while he wasn't there… even if it also meant countries would attack him period.

Well, at least Ludwig didn't have powers, right? Wait, did he? Was that even possible? If two of them were countries, did that make it more or less likely that all three would be? Would it be better if he did have powers? He was going to be involved regardless, so would it be better if he had powers of some sort?

So many questions, but all of them cut off by Ludwig saying "I think this is the place" and pulling into the parking lot of a beat up old diner that looked very undercrowded for noon on a Saturday. It seemed sort of shady, but also it was lunchtime and Feliciano was really hungry, so he didn't hesitate in jumping out of the car and starting for the diner.

The second he opened the door and stepped in the place, which was just as decrepit inside as it was outside, he noticed a man sitting in a booth that looked freakishly familiar. Blond and with incredibly prominent eyebrows, he was the same exact man from that weird dream with the chalk. He probably would have recognized him right off the bat even if Flying Mint Bunny hadn't been hovering beside his head.

From the smile and beckoning hand motion, it seemed he knew who they were as well. Or maybe just assumed no one else would probably be coming in there but them. That was pretty likely.

England stood up to greet them, shaking Feliciano's hand as he approached. "It's quite nice to finally meet you," he said, sounding a bit more actually British than he was expecting. "My name is Arthur Kirkland."

"I'm Feliciano Vargas!", he said in turn, really not sure what to say otherwise. He had a million questions, but was unsure which to ask first.

"My name is Ludwig Beilschmidt," his friend continued, offering a hand to Arthur, who quickly took it.

Kiku didn't offer a hand, but simply bowed politely. "And I am Kiku Honda. It is very nice to meet you."

They all sat down in the booth, Flying Mint Bunny hovering about and Kiku trying very hard to create a healthy amount of distance between himself and England, who he sort of had to sit next to. "It was a good move to choose such an uncrowded location," Ludwig remarked after a moment.

"Ah, I just like the food here, to be honest," admitted Arthur, who shoved a menu at the other side of the booth. "Anyone want anything? I'll buy."

While the other two rejected the offer, Feliciano was kind of starving. Scanning the menu, he found pretty typical food, with only really the Fish and Chips sticking out as unusual. Well, if he was with England, it made sense to eat British-type food, right? "Can I get the Fish and Chips?"

Arthur smiled and looked at Ludwig. "Mind getting up to order for us? We have a lot to talk about."

"Sure," Ludwig said, but he glared at Arthur like it was very far from okay.

"Oh, and can you get me another tea? Mine's gone cold," Arthur added as Ludwig got up. His request was met with another glare.

Flying Mint Bunny hovered in the general space where Ludwig's head had been a moment prior and gave a small frown. "There's no reason to be rude!", it berated.

"My apologies, but I don't want to involve civilians more than I have to," explained England. "Sometimes the cold shoulder is the only way to keep people from sticking their noses where they don't belong."

Feliciano was preparing to say something to defend his friend, but Flying Mint Bunny did it for him. "Actually, I've been doubting he's actually a civilian," it said. "Given his association with so many other Countries, and specifically with these two, I think he might just be one himself."

"I kind of thought that too," Feliciano admitted.

"Given what I know of the Country Spirits from before all this happened, I definitely remember Germany being really close friends with Japan and Italy, so it's possible he's Germany," suggested Flying Mint Bunny.

Kiku looked oddly excited by this prospect. "If all three of us were Nation Scouts, that would truly be amazing, don't you think?"

"Eh, 'Nation Scouts'?", England repeated. "I don't believe I've heard that before."

Smiling, which Feliciano noted he'd done an awful lot more lately than usual, Kiku said "I made it up. I thought it sounded better than just referring to ourselves as 'Countries'."

Arthur nodded. "Yes, it does sound a bit better. Now, on to why I wanted to talk to you all. All this… 'Nation Scout' business must seem horribly confusing. I know I wasn't really sure what to make of it at first, but I got used to it and things have pretty much just gone on as normal."

That was pretty much exactly what he wanted to hear. Feliciano felt a smile spreading across his face. "Seriously?"

Arthur nodded. "Sure, there's the stray attack from-"

A chiming of the door in the front of the diner signaled someone else had entered, and from the way Arthur's eyes narrowed as he walked in, Feliciano assumed it wasn't anyone good. He looked pretty non-threatening, wearing a white hat and blue uniform, but a cold look in his eyes made him sure that this guy wasn't a friend.

"England," the man greeted, and from the corner of his eye, Feliciano could see that Flying Mint Bunny had suddenly vanished.

Standing up, Arthur replied with "Finland. I see you're doing well. How's the family?"

A sour expression crossed the face of this "Finland". "Please stop with the small talk," he requested. "I was sent here to trail the new ones, but, well, I'm outmatched and we both know it. So, I'll just ask you what I came here to find out: what powers do they possess?"

"Water and Light, from what I've heard," he replied simply. "Seem a bit underwhelming, to be honest. Nothing you need to concern yourselves with, I think."

"That's it?", Finland pressed, but an odd expression crossed his face. "Nothing else? Do you want me to make you all fight me?"

To prove his point, he conjured a sniper rifle from nowhere. "No!", Feliciano quickly exclaimed. "We don't want to fight you!"

"Eh, that'll work," Finland shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not really sure why they sent just me, but I'm sure they'll accept bad timing as an excuse. Have a nice day."

Gun vanishing into light, Finland walked back out of the diner. Feliciano was glad they'd avoided a fight, but a bit suspicious of that odd smirk he gave as he left.

"He'll be back," Arthur stated as the little bell on the door rung again as Finland left. "He's planning something, I'm sure." Grabbing a napkin, he scribbled a phone number down on it before handing it to them. "Probably isn't good for you to stick around here. Give me a call later and we can talk."

This all seemed a bit off to Feliciano, but he took the napkin and nodded. "Um, see you later, then."

He caught Ludwig, who still standing at the counter, by the arm and proceeded to walk out, still feeling uneasy about the whole ordeal. Some sort of red warning light was going off, and he knew deep down that something was off with England. Still, he was so grateful for his reassurance that he really didn't care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! I got the title of this chapter from a line from a song that England's Hetaloid covered. Also fun fact! That demonstrates that I am a total dweeb. 
> 
> But yeah, this chapter is a teeny bit slow, but at least we have Finland doing pretty much nothing, right? And another weird dream with weird cameos. There were like, including Italy, six different characters in that dream. The sixth was Canada, who Italy did not notice.


	11. Golden Thread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You want to hear of my problems? Well… I don’t really understand them myself. All I know is that the two people I care most about are in danger and I can no longer defend them.”
> 
> Ludwig is unhappy about Arthur purposefully excluding him from Magical Girl things. Luckily, he has an AWESOME brother who can help him with this.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Ten- Golden Thread_

The slamming of the door behind Ludwig drew his brother's eyes.

"You're home early," Gilbert remarked nonchalantly, but something, maybe the way Ludwig shook his head or clenched his fist or something made him change his tune. "What, did something happen?"

"Yes, actually," Ludwig muttered under his breath. "Something" didn't begin to cut it. Pretty much everything possible that was completely unexplainable had happened in the past several days.

Why did Gilbert seem to always get so excited at the prospect of his problems? "Really?", he questioned, red eyes widening. "What happened? Get in a fight? Feli get a new girlfriend? Spilled water on your nerdy planner thing?"

"Uh, no," Ludwig flatly stated. He wasn't sure whether to be upset that his own brother thought such things would set him off, or that come to think of it, all of those things would probably set him off.

As he proceeded to hang his coat up and start walking in the general direction of his room, Gilbert interrupted him with an annoyed "Well, why are you all pouty then?"

"I am not 'all pouty'," he protested, trying very hard to keep his face in as neutral an expression as possible to maintain this claim. "I am just not in a particularly good mood due to circumstances that would take too long to explain."

His brother smirked, like that was to be taken as a challenge. "Oh come on, I'm done with work for the day, and Gilbird and Fritz are asleep," he complained, gesturing to the birdcage next to his computer, which as he said, contained two sleeping canaries. "So I have time, and what sort of big brother would I be if I didn't worry about your problems?"

What had they said about telling people? Feliciano had pretty much said he'd have told them all about it eventually had they not been attacked, so there didn't seem to be a major problem with telling people. On the other hand, Arthur had expressed his desire not to involve civilians… while all but forcing him to leave. "I could explain things," Ludwig decided. "But you wouldn't believe me."

Gilbert chuckled. "Really? You think someone who hangs around Toni and Francy-pants would have anything left to not believe?"

Remembering the many, many crazy things his brother had come home late and attempted to explain to either him or his late grandfather, Ludwig sat down next to Gilbert. "Fair point. I can try to explain, but first I need a new notebook."

Grumbling, his brother stood up, went over to his desk, and plucked a cheap spiral-bound black notebook from the bottom of a stack of various papers. "What, do you need to explain it with spreadsheets or something?"

Ludwig pulled a pen out of his pocket. It was the blue one he used to notate his brother's schedule, and he supposed it would work well enough for this. "Practically. See, it's a very long story and I'm not too sure how to explain it properly."

How had Feli started the other day? That conversation, all he could remember of it was his friend crying in his arms after having been impaled, and he cursed his memory for focusing on that. No, wait, Kiku had compared it to something, and he smirked. "Well, you know that show you threatened to disembowel me over if I told anyone you watched it?"

"Which one?", Gilbert questioned.

His mind blanked on the title, so he searched for it out loud. "Ah, you know, the one with the- the girl who transforms and is like, the Moon Scout or something."

"Sailor Moon?" He nodded, and Gilbert gave one of his odd laughs. "Kesesese! What kind of complicated equation starts with Magical Girls?"

"Apparently, my life," Ludwig sighed. "See, a few days ago, Feliciano told me that he was-"

"Gay?" Gilbert interjected hopefully.

Why did his brother have such a one-track mind? It got a bit annoying at times, how he seemed to care more about him getting together with Feliciano than he did about him on his own. "No, that he was like that Sailor Moon girl, except instead of the moon he's the Magical Soldier of the country Italy."

For once, his brother didn't say anything stupid. He didn't say anything at all, actually. Just stared at him like he was the one being stupid. "I wish I was joking," Ludwig added after a minute. "But given he transformed right in front of me and proceed to fight a crazy woman who attempted to kill us with scarves and survived blows humans shouldn't be able to survive, I don't think that's the case."

"Okay, so Feli's a Magical Girl," Gilbert said after a minute with a shrug. "Can't say it surprises me that much. Bet Kiku likes that; he loves those kinds of shows."

"Well, he's Japan, so I'd imagine he likes it."

Gilbert stared at nothing for a second before laughing. "Okay, this is actually awesome. Like, almost approaching my awesomeness level. So you three fight monsters in the name of justice or something?"

This seemed like a good opportunity to begin using the notebook. Ludwig flipped it open and started writing about their enemies, explaining it out loud as he did so "We fight other countries that are working together to… well, possibly to capture us, but they haven't been trying particularly hard to do so. The last one just asked them for their skill sets and left. Not even the, erm flying invisible rabbit that gives the others advice seems to know what exactly they're going after. But they attack us without provocation, so-"

"Wait, go back: 'flying invisible rabbit'?"

"I wish that was a joke," Ludwig muttered as his brother dissolved into laughter. "Apparently it prefers the name 'Flying Mint Bunny'."

Though Gilbert continued to laugh even harder, Ludwig's focus was pulled by a familiar chime from his phone. Quickly, he read the message Feliciano had sent: "Just fought Norway. He's really strong, but England did a bunch of cool magic stuff and we beat him."

Another text came a second later. "England said he'd bring us home so don't worry about picking us up. See you tomorrow!"

Several emoticons followed the message, including one that looked like it was blowing a kiss. This was probably why Gilbert, who was reading over his shoulder, said "Awe, my future brother-in-law's so cute, isn't he? Who's England, some other friend you have I don't know about?"

Ludwig took this opportunity to add his least favorite non-enemy Country so far into the notebook. The entry was something along the lines of "England is Arthur Kirkland, powers are 'cool magic stuff', apparently. Doesn't want civilians involved." He explained his feelings towards the man to his brother as he did so in much less polite language.

"Wait, his name's Arthur Kirkland?", Gilbert questioned. When he nodded, another bout of weird laughter began. "Francis told me about a British-y guy called that. Said he was a stick-in-the-mud. Weird, you usually go for guys like that."

"Not when they're telling me I shouldn't interfere in the lives of my friends."

"Why not interfere? I mean, if those two are awesome Magical Girl countries, aren't you?"

The previous day at the diner, he'd vaguely overheard that possibility come up, and Feli had told him more about that on the way back. "Well, they think I could be Germany, but I'm not certain," he admitted.

"Well then, how do you activate your inner Germany?", prompted Gilbert, clearly unable to say it with a straight face. "Didn't expect to be saying that today. Or ever."

Wracking his mind, he tried to remember how it had been said that they transformed. "I'm not certain. One moment."

Quickly, he pulled his phone back out and texted a simple question to his more magical friends: "Remind me, how do you transform? There's some sort of item thing involved, right?"

Kiku alone quickly responded (Feliciano had probably fallen asleep in the car again): "Yes. With an item someone important gives to us like Feli's cross necklace we can use their love to power our attacks."

After a second, Kiku added: "Oh my god that sounds really stupid out loud. My life is a Shoujo manga and I can't stop it. Also, why are you asking?"

He texted a single word back: "Gilbert" and hoped that would be enough.

"Apparently with jewelry given to us by people we care about," Ludwig said, processing how stupid that sounded and letting out a (very) small chuckle. " _Mein Gott_ , this really does sound like a cartoon for little girls."

"You German-ed! See, it's working already!", Gilbert happily exclaimed. "But, like, do you even have any jewlery? Did gramps give you anything? Or Feli, he's artsy, right? You could probably ask him and he'd make you a friendship bracelet or something."

Friendship bracelet… Vaguely, he remembered something about one of those. "I think he made me one when we were children, but I haven't seen it in years. I think I lost it somewhere, perhaps."

An odd expression crossed Gilbert's face. One that clearly read "Oh crap". "Uh, I think I actually might know where that is!", he quickly exclaimed and ran into his room at breakneck speed. A few moments later, he returned with a shoebox labeled "My awesome stuff, do not touch" in handwriting that must have belonged to a much younger version of his brother.

"Okay, no idea how, but I was looking through my stuff a while back and I saw a little string bracelet thing that might be what you're talking about," Gilbert said with nervousness that translated the sentence for him. Translation: "I just remembered I stole that from you when we were kids. Sorry, here it is."

He dug out a slightly faded looking loop of three pieces of embroidery floss braided together that seemed far too big for a child's wrist. Memories flooded back, of his dear friend blushing and forcing it around his wrist, quickly apologizing when it turned out to be too big to fit even when wrapped around twice. "This is the one," he said, taking the strings in his hand. "Do you think this could work, though? Even if I am Germany, this was given to me so long ago that…"

"Wait, look at it for a second," Gilbert prompted. "The colors, I mean."

The colors? They were faded, but one string had clearly once been a much brighter red, now looking almost pink, another was a faded yellow, almost gold and the last a dark grey that had to have once been black. Those colors… Something pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Black, red, gold: that's the German flag, isn't it?"

"Well, it's official: my brother is Magical Germany," Gilbert declared. "So you go do your Magical Girl stuff and show that _dummkopf_ England up, and I'll see if I can get a hold of Francy-pants and tell him about his bad taste in friends."

Ludwig wrapped the bracelet around his wrist. It was too big even now, and he had to wrap it around his pinky finger as well to keep it in place. The feel of it felt familiar, but not just because he'd worn it out of obligation until his brother had swiped it. No, there was something there other than simple threads. There was a power, a connection, the thing that would stop the people he cared about from drifting away. He felt stronger, like he could actually fight if he wanted to. Heat and energy surged around his wrist, and he stood up and went to the door. Feliciano- no, Italy needed to see this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, the story became far more AWESOME, because Prussia got almost a whole chapter to do things in! Also, Sailor Doitsu! The friendship bracelet transformation thingy is mostly because a, I wanted something it would make sense for him to have had for a while, b, something Italy could have made him, and c, the pun inherent to having a string bracelet including the color red looped around one's pinky finger. And if the plot seems to jump around, next chapter goes back a little and explains what Italy and the others were doing around this time. So, thanks for reading~!


	12. White Threads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That girl… I’ve seen her before. She attacked me back when that masked hero saved me. Wait! Please don’t attack, I want to ask you something!”
> 
> Feliciano is attacked by a mysterious girl. The very same, in fact, that attacked him when he was little. Maybe he can use this to find out more about that hero that saved him back then?

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Eleven- White Threads_

Like flowers, England's spell circles bloomed across the barren parking lot, seeking their target. Said target, Norway, managed to deflect the only one close enough to hit him with a broadsword. A brilliant ray of light shot from the impact like fireworks. Violet-reds shot across the mid-afternoon sky, producing something way too pretty to be coming from a battle. They almost looked like they were about to hit Kiku, but in a really hazy sense...

"Italy! Stop standing around and help fight!", England ordered, snapping Feliciano out of his daze.

He gave a small salute. "Yes sir!"

Taking his flag in hand, Italy attempted to send a few Light Bullets towards Norway. Really none of them hit, so he stepped back again to let Kiku rush in with his sword.

"You know, your new allies are a bit underwhelming," Norway flatly told England as he parried it with his own blade. "I can't see why Tino wanted me to follow up on this. Really, neither of them will be much of a threat for another few months."

With an annoyed sigh, England waved the magic wand he was holding and produced a small sphere of magic-y energy. "You can leave if you don't think this is worthwhile. Really, I won't stop you."

As it shot at Norway, he shook his head and sent his own charge of magic at England's. They exploded in a spray of sparks, and a small cry of pain came from beside him.

"You okay?", he quickly asked a slightly cinged Kiku, who nodded wordlessly and sent a Water Cutter at the enemy. That was weird, Feliciano had thought he'd seen Kiku getting hit a second ago, but it only happened… Ah, he was probably just letting the fighting get to him.

More spell circles spread across the pavement, but these were Norway's. The indigo color of their glow told him that much, as they were quite unlike cyan of his ally's magic. Bolts of lightning struck each in turn, forcing England to sidestep one a bit.

"If you aren't going to try, there's no reason for you to be here," he taunted. He was hit with a quick blast of violet fire for his trouble.

Norway prepared another blast, but Japan's Water Cutter shred it to bits before it could be sent out. Kiku then held his blade aloft, water surrounding it. "Finishing move: Mercury Coil!", he cried as he swung his sword, sending the water in a spiraling jet towards the enemy.

"Your juniors are rather immature…", scoffed Norway as he sidestep the attack. "Really, I would have expected more from a G8 Coun-"

Another magic circle spread under Norway's feet, glowing a harsh cyan. The water Kiku had sent at him reformed and coiled around his leg as he tried to sidestep it. "Ah, what's the point if you can't have a bit of fun?", England questioned with a mocking grin. "How about this: Hex Storm!"

The sky filled with comet-like streaks, all converging upon the spell circle. Bright light filled the air as they hit, and when they cleared, Norway had vanished.

Dusting himself off, England glanced back at the two of them. "Good work, everyone. Japan, I must admit, calling out finishing moves is rather satisfying. Italy, you might should at least try to fight. I mean, you did well not getting hit, but you should learn how to fend for yourself in case you get caught alone again."

Feliciano nodded, silently protesting that he'd done just fine without him before. Even if he didn't totally trust him yet, even if he didn't like how he pushed Ludwig away, he was really happy that he had England to fight alongside. The sidelines, after all, were a much nicer place to be in these fights.

* * *

Later that evening, after Arthur had brought him home, Feliciano was attempting to make dinner. Lovino wasn't home yet, and the quiet of the house would have made him nervous if he wasn't so tired. Even though he'd slept the entire way back, he was still completely wiped from the fight. It was getting a bit better, he noticed, and maybe in a few months using his powers would barely bother him at all, but as is he probably would have gone to bed before the sun if he hadn't been craving Italian food so much.

He'd managed to find a few of Grandpa's old cookbooks, and had settled on something to make, but some movement outside the window stopped him right before he was about to put the pasta on to boil. A shadowy figure that looked like a girl wearing a dress… oh, he was just getting paranoid, right? It was just a tree, right? Right?

Looking again, he did not see anything that could be mistaken for a person. Must have just been a passing car shadow or something, he thought, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw something again. Blue… he saw a flash of blue. A dark blue, a midnight-navy that contrasted with the orange sky of sunset.

Setting down the pot of water on the counter, Feliciano slowly made his way towards the window and pushed the blinds farther apart to peer through them better. Barely, he could see a familiar figure sulking in the shadow of the house next door, looking like she was talking on a cell phone or something. He was sure of it: that girl was the one who had attacked him all those years ago, the night the masked hero had saved him.

That girl, she looked exactly like she had all those years ago, and even held the same knife in her other hand. So he was right, then! That had happened, and if she was reappearing now, surely it meant that she had been connected to the whole Nation Scout thing. Did she know about the hero that saved him that night? It was a terrible impulse, but Feliciano was overwhelmed with a desire to look further into this. Maybe he could just go up and talk to her…?

Hands shaking, he made his way to the front door and slowly opened it. This was a terrible idea, he was going to get himself killed, but he wanted to know what had happened all those years ago. She, well, maybe she'd be willing to talk. Finland and Lithuania had been kind of nice, so who's to say she wouldn't be either? Plus, she'd been so sad when she'd attacked him back then, so maybe she just didn't want to fight?

These vain hopes kept him lightly walking out the door and making his way towards her. She was facing away and talking into her phone in a language he didn't understand. (Russian, maybe?)

Very suddenly, she shifted to English in her conversation. "Please, sir, I have no way of telling if the HRE-"

A gap of silence, like someone was talking to her, and then she burst out with "Katyusha wasn't able to tell either! And I doubt even Ivan would be able to tell from one battle."

The girl gave a shudder as whoever she was talking to continued to talk. "I- I understand. I will not let them down."

After that, she hung the phone up and turned around before Feliciano could duck out of the way. She jumped a bit as she saw him, but then began giggling. "Ah, I see what my big sister told me was true," she remarked, really creeping him out. "This job'll actually be quite easy."

Laughing, she held up her knife and began to approach him. "No, no, I just wanted to talk, that's all!", he assured her, waving his hands frantically. "See, not even armed! You wouldn't kill someone without a fair chance, right?"

"What's your deal?", she questioned with a huff. "I was told you were an airhead, but not this much. Transform if you must, but it'll probably hurt less if you don't struggle."

"I just wanted to ask you a question!", he cried, taking a few backwards steps. "Remember like, ten years ago when you tried to kill me?"

She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Ten years-? No. I'd remember if I'd met such an annoying person before."

"Oh come on, I was real little and you were exactly the same and then you came after me with that knife and that cool masked guy saved me! You remember that, right?"

Taking a few more steps forward, the girl brandished her knife once more threateningly. "Tell me all you know about this 'masked guy'! Do so or you won't live to take another step!"

"I don't know anything about him!", Feliciano vowed. "That's why I was asking you! I thought he might be a country or something and you, well, you seem to know that sort of stuff, so-"

Without warning, his entire body froze in place. He couldn't move at all, save for very shallow breaths. The girl smirked. "That's much better. If you won't talk about anything meaningful, well, I'm sure everyone would be alright if I just brought you with me and they examined you themselves."

Examined? What was she talking about? His heart pounded like crazy, which was about the only thing he could feel, as her paralysis spell and the chill of the air made him numb. As she took a few steps closer, he could hear a car somewhere behind him, and then footsteps, but nothing really registered. Either her magic or knife were making black spots dance in front of his eyes. He couldn't even look away as she prepared to cut into him.

Suddenly, she stopped, and a bright light filled the air. It was just like that night, and for a moment, he was positive that mysterious hero had returned. Well, at least until he heard a very familiar voice. "Not another step!"

Ludwig dashed out in front of him, but he looked different somehow. Definitely taller, and wearing some sort of army green uniform, with a few strands of string coiled around his hand. The paralysis broke, and Feliciano was able to clutch at the cross around his neck and fill himself with his own power. A burst of light filled him with power, but also with fatigue, even before he produced his flag and stood next to his friend.

The girl looked rather horrified by the fact that two Nation Scouts stood before her. "Ah, but you-?" She cut herself off with a grimace. "Whatever. I'll just bring home two candidates instead of one."

"What is she talking about?", Ludwig questioned, but Feliciano simply shrugged. His friend turned to the knife-brandishing girl and with a wave of his hand, sent thin wires shooting across the yard. They attached to trees, the ground, even houses, and formed an odd sort of web, trapping their enemy in the middle.

In a sudden burst of inspiration, Feliciano held his flag in both hands, pointing the end at the girl and focusing whatever energy he sent through it at the end. A larger ball of light shot towards her, hitting her in the chest and casting a white glow on the threads trapping her in place. The girl scowled, and started to throw a knife at him, but Ludwig quickly materialized some sort of axe and charged towards her with it. Right before it struck her, it morphed into a spear, and a shower of light obscured the impact. Once it had faded, she had vanished.

Both of them stood there for a moment, trying to catch their breaths before both of their transformations fell away and left the two simply standing in the dying sunlight.

"That… was really cool…" Feliciano praised between breaths. "How did you… I didn't know you were…"

"I overheard you saying... I might be Germany…" panted Ludwig, steadying himself by leaning on a nearby tree. "Found this bracelet you gave me… Gilbert stole it… Is this always so tiring?"

A weary laugh came out, and Feliciano suddenly embraced his friend. "I'm happy… I can... fight with you…" he breathed. "I was… worried but… I think everything will be fine… with you…"

If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn Ludwig was smiling. "I'm very glad… I can fight… at your side..."

As they stood there, barely able to breathe, Feliciano realized he hadn't learned anything about that hero who'd saved him, and that the girl had all but denied the existence of such an event. It didn't bother him, though. After all, if he had to choose between a mysterious hero and the person he loved most rescuing him, he'd choose Ludwig every time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sort of had a terrible time trying to figure out what Germany's powers should be, so after careful deliberation, I decided he should probably be a metal bender. Seemed to fit him well enough. And much to my surprise, Belarus proved to be a lot of fun to write for. I love her dryness. Expect to see a bit more of her in the future.


	13. Red Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ah-? Is this… a dream? ‘Belarus’, ‘Lithuania’, what do I need to see from you?”
> 
> Feliciano has yet another messed up dream. Except this time, he ends up accidentally spying on a conversation between two of his enemies. And then he ends up at a conference of several enemy Countries who all want him dead. How lovely.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Twelve- Red Sight_

"...Ve?"

Opening his eyes and letting out a confused noise, Feliciano found himself standing in a dimly lit hallway. It looked almost mechanical, with the walls and floors both being textured sheets of dull, grey metal, with rust blossoming in corners. It jutted out in odd places, like support pillars, but in the exact same metal as everything else.

The whole place was cold and damp, with an odd aroma filling the air. Mechanized clicks filled the air, like the ticking of a clock, but punctuated with a low groaning. Vaguely, he could make out blood splatters on the ground, and a shiver ran down his spine. He was sure this was a place where people had died, or at very least where terrible things had happened.

"I-is anyone here?", he cried out weakly. This place, with all its unpleasantness, wasn't one he wanted to be alone in. "Ludwig, Kiku, Arthur; please, anyone, can you hea-"

Footsteps cut him off. Hope filled him for a split second, or at least until the figure producing them came into sight. It was the girl who had attacked him that evening, wearing not her normal blue dress but a more casual blue skirt and black jacket, though she had the same hairbow on. Well, he supposed he had called for "anyone", and even she was better than being alone in this place. Besides, he seemed to already have his Italy powers up, so if things went south, he could always fight back.

"Ah, hey!", he called out to her as she walked past. She ignored him, but Feliciano quickly started walking beside her and kept trying to chat. "Do you know where we are? I mean, yeah, you tried to kill me earlier, but I mean, this place is kinda scary! So, uh, can you help me out here?"

She didn't even acknowledge him in the slightest. "Hey! I know we fought, but please, I just wanna leave!", he cried out loudly, waving a hand in front of her face. She didn't so much as blink.

Suddenly, he heard running footsteps directly behind him, and a person- one he recognized as someone he'd fought before (Lithuania, maybe?) took their place beside the girl, practically right on top of him. It was like they were a ghost, passing straight through him- No, he thought as he moved out of the way and walked behind the two, he was the ghost. That girl wasn't ignoring him, she couldn't see him at all.

Was he dead? No, that wasn't right. Feliciano thought back to what he'd been doing before showing up here, and realized that the last thing he remembered was going to bed. Must have been another one of those weird dreams, then, but this one felt so much more… real, for lack of a better word. Could Countries see other things going on in their sleep? He made a note to ask Flying Mint Bunny about that when he woke up, and continued to follow the two.

Lithuania greeted the girl with a quick "Hey, Na- er, Belarus, um, they wanted to see you in the meeting hall."

The girl, apparently "Belarus", scoffed. "I've heard. Why else would I be going this way, to pay Romania a visit?"

A very pained laugh escaped Lithuania. "Oh, just… making sure." After a moment, he added "No reason to be worried. I'm sure they'll just give you another warning and let you be on your way."

"Why… why would I be worried?", Belarus questioned with another scoff, but her hands shook behind her back. "Think I'm gonna go the way of dear Latvia?"

Latvia? Feliciano assumed that was a country, but he didn't know why the mention made Lithuania clench his fist and let out an odd sigh. "Bel, you'll be fine. There's no reason to think that-"

"Don't 'Bel' me!", the girl yelled back. "I don't associate so casually with weirdos wearing stupid bracelets."

Lithuania held up his wrist, glancing at the rather pink charm bracelet around it. "It certainly isn't my fault Feliks has such strange tastes in gifts," he muttered. "But besides that, we've been working together for quite some time. Don't you think we should act more like colleagues?"

"Colleagues don't call each other such stupid things," huffed Belarus, who began walking a few steps ahead of Lithuania.

"I suppose so…", Lithuania admitted. "Would you rather me just call you by your surname?"

Belarus looked back at him with a sneer. "Belarus has worked just fine up until now. Why change it?"

Pink spread across Lithuania's face. "Sorry! I just thought- well, that it might be nice to be better friends!"

"I'm not your friend," she barked back. "No one in this place is your 'friend'. No one here is anyone's 'friend'!"

Neither spoke for a moment until they arrived at a door, which Lithuania wordlessly held open for Belarus. Feliciano slipped in after her, wondering vaguely what this "meeting" would be.

His breath caught in his throat as he looked around the meeting room. The woman Belarus took a seat next to was most certainly the one who had attacked him and his friends with scarves, and on her other side was a man he recognized as the one who had attacked with ice needles in another dream of his. Lithuania sat down between Switzerland and a masked person he didn't recognize, and at the head of the table was Finland, who was wearing an odd headset and was gripping the table oddly. It was like a birthday party where everyone wanted to kill him, and he became profoundly grateful that he was invisible to them.

After a moment, Finland cleared his throat. "Ah, hello… The- er, our leader is having me speak on his behalf today," he began. "And, ah- well, we're here to discuss a few things, but first and foremost, well, Belarus's fate…"

"Please, dear Natalia hasn't done anything wrong," the woman who had attacked them with scarves insisted. "Everyone slips up every once in awhile. Not one of us has been able to identify the HRE."

"The HRE", there it was again. Belarus had mentioned it before, but what did it mean?

Finland gave a deep sigh and said in an emotionless tone "Our leader wishes to inform me that failing to identify the HRE was not Belarus's main transgression. This is only the latest in a succession of failures. Multiple failed attempt to confirm the status of Roderich Edelstein and Feliks Lukasiewicz as Countries, multiple attempts to escape, multiple charges of theft, and the poor performance as well of her siblings make her a liability."

"My little sister hasn't done anything wrong," insisted the scarf-wearing man with a smile quite unfitting of the situation, contrasting with the horrified expression of his two (apparent) sisters. "She's just been recieving difficult jobs, that's all. I wouldn't have done it any differently."

Keeping his death grip on the table with one hand, Finland put his other to the headset and gave a sad frown. "Our leader… he says that he'll give her one last chance. If she fails to neutralize Italy or obtain information on the HRE by tomorrow, she will be neutralized herself."

Belarus was visibly trembling, but nodded. "Y-yes sir," she said with a vacant tone. "I won't- I won't fail this time."

Her brother put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course you won't. We'll help you capture Italy," he declared.

"Of course," her sister added. "With three of us, we should be able to overwhelm him easily."

"I- I'll help too!", Lithuania volunteered, but Switzerland gave him a shake of the head.

Finland stared blankly at the scene before flatly stating "Oh, yes, our leader wants to assign you to the Feliks Lukasiewicz case. Given what we've heard of Germany's awakening, we believe that he would be useful surveillance to have."

Gripping the charm bracelet he wore and turning as white as copy paper, Lithuania gave a shaky nod.

"And Turkey, our leader wants you to talk to our Second-in-Command," Finland added, nodding towards the masked man.

An odd sensation came over Feliciano very suddenly, like being pulled back through the veil he was wandering about in.

* * *

"Was there anything after that?", pressed Ludwig.

Feliciano sighed. That story had taken a long time to remember, especially when recollecting it to so many at once over the phone, but it seemed to end there. "Um, no. I think I woke up after that."

One end of the phone call gave a small "hmm", and Arthur then remarked "Well, if anything, at least we know that Italy's in danger. We'll come to your house in the morning and wait Belarus out, so whenever she and her siblings come they'll be outmatched."

Pulling the comforter closer to his body, Feliciano gave a small, tired "Okay. Can we talk about it in the morning?"

"You were the one to call us at three in the morning when we have school in the morning," Kiku countered.

"Oh yeah. School. That's a thing," Feliciano muttered. "Does hiding from a scary knife girl count as an excused absence?"

Ludwig gave a small laugh. "Doubtful. I'm fairly certain Gilbert's friends with Miss Hedervary, so we can get her to vouch for us if we must."

"And if I must, I can fake some sort of illness," Kiku said.

Arthur laughed a bit too loudly for the lateness of the hour into his end of the call. "Well, I suppose it's settled. We can meet first thing in the morning there and hope Belarus isn't too much of an early riser."

A distant voice suddenly came from his line: "Yo, Artie! Who're ya talking to?", questioned a voice.

Seemingly yelling while covering the phone, Arthur replied with "Work call! Nothing important. Go to bed Alfred, Matthew probably would like to get some sleep for once!"

"Whatever!", "Alfred" called back.

"Sorry!", Arthur said hastily and far more quietly. "Seems my brother was up. I don't want him to know what I'm up to, you know? Don't want him to get involved, if at all possible. Much safer to keep my business and personal life separate."

"Oh, speaking of personal, I'd been meaning to ask," Ludwig said. "My brother has a friend, er, Francis Bonnefoy, who has apparently mentioned someone sharing your name before."

Yawning, Feliciano added "Oh, you know Francis?"

The phone went strangely silent for a moment. "You could say that," Arthur said rather quietly. "I- er, well, it's a bit complicated and I would rather not talk about it right now. Why don't you all get some sleep? Big battle tomorrow, don't want to run out of steam, right?"

"Very well then," Kiku said. "Good night."

"Yes, good night," Ludwig repeated.

The phone went silent, leaving Feliciano laying there and wondering how he was going to get any sleep knowing that his head was worth so much to Belarus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, there's America for five seconds! Oh, and that other guy. Now almost the entire FACE group is here, but England doesn't seem to want France involved. And Russia! To anyone who might have thought he was the big bad, you can quite clearly see that isn't the case. He's just a concerned brother, that's all. Also, this is about the point in the story where I decided I freaking loved Lithuania's character. Not that it changes anything, though. Even if I like him, it doesn't mean I'll go easy on him. After all, something's clearly already happened to Latvia. So, thanks for reading~!
> 
> Also, to anyone that caught that completely unneeded reference to Kid Icarus Uprising, I salute you.


	14. Scarlet Slice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So Belarus wants to kill me. I… don’t like this. Can’t I please… just go back… to sleep… Huh? Fratello, what are you doing?”
> 
> Feliciano and his friends wait for Belarus to come try to kill him. But Lovino wants to be included, and basically forces his way into the party with a fake gun.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Thirteen- Scarlet Slice_

In Feliciano's honest opinion, it was too early in the morning for battle strategies. Like, way too early. In fact, it was so early that he was attempting to go back to sleep, using Ludwig's arm as a pillow as he and the others discussed what they would do when Belarus and the others showed up.

"Now, given what we've seen of their movesets, my Wire attack should be useful for combating the lady with the scarf- er, did we ever get a name for her?", Ludwig questioned, and Feliciano wished he'd stop moving around so much; he had just started to get comfortable.

After a moment, Arthur offered "Well, she sounds like Ukraine. I've fought her before, really nasty fight. Took a while to get in close enough to cast anything with her scarves blocking me."

"That sounds like her!", Feliciano said, yawning. "And she had a scary pitchfork, too!"

It took Arthur a second to say anything again. "He's still awake?"

"Yes," Ludwig stated. "If people are talking, it can take him a while to get to sleep."

"Should we be quieter then?", Arthur questioned.

Feliciano was about to say that would be great… until Kiku spoke up before he could. "He will be fine," he assured them. We should focus on making certain we know how to take on this foe. Ukraine's scarves, I believe we should be able to counteract her attacks with Germany's Razor Wire-"

"It's quite fine to just keep calling me Ludwig, you know. It's worked just fine up until now."

"In this context, it sounds more appropriate to use your Nation Scout name," Kiku countered calmly. "It's a strategic calling code to indicate I am talking about you as a fighter."

Ludwig sighed, shifting his weight a bit, maybe to grab that notepad he'd been using earlier. "I think we could gather that from the fact I'm using a 'Razor Wire Attack' or whatever you called it."

"I am only trying to make things clear."

"Ah, well, regardless, we really should prioritize taking Ukraine out," Arthur butted in with a laugh. "Belarus's paralysis is more short-range, so if take Ukraine's scarves out of the picture, it should be easier to keep her at bay. But the third one- and I'm going to guess it's Russia from Italy's description- he'll be more dangerous."

Dangerous? In that dream, Belarus's brother had seemed pretty nice. Scary, sure, but not particularly dangerous. He said something to this effect, and was met with a sigh from Arthur.

"You realize he's a G8 country, right?"

G8? Oh right, Flying Mint Bunny had said those were the strongest. Well, he's said that, but he'd also said he was one, and Feliciano never felt all that strong compared to what he was up against. "But we are also G8 countries," Kiku countered. "Shouldn't that not matter as much?"

"You three are G8, sure, but you've only been at this for a few days, tops," said Arthur. "And Russia's been at it for years." He gave a loud laugh. "Still, you have a point. We're all four G8 countries! There hasn't been a team-up like this in decades! We'll do just fine- I'm absolutely-"

A loud clatter suddenly pierced the air, and Feliciano opened his eyes to see his big brother holding a pistol in one hand and a pillow in the other. "Look, I don't care what you idiots are talking about, but whatever it is, would you shut up! This is my house and I am trying to sleep!", Lovino yelled. Okay, that wasn't quite what he said, 'cause he'd been a bit more rude about it, but it was close enough.

"My apologies," Arthur quickly assured him with a strained gulp. "We- we'll try to discuss things a bit quieter."

Lovino looked around the room for a minute before sitting down on the opposite end of one of the couches from Kiku. "Well, I'm already awake, so I think I'll just listen in. See what weird crap you're up to."

"We're just discussing how to take on an enemy that's coming after us," Ludwig explained. "Nothing too interesting, but-"

"No one asked you, Beilschmidt," Lovino interrupted.

"Truthfully, we are doing little more than waiting," Kiku explained. "You are welcome to wait with us, but-"

"Really, this isn't your place to be concerned!", Arthur assured him.

Lovino gave a fairly common response: pointed the pistol he was carrying at him, making England give a nervous gulp. "My house, my brother, my problem."

"Is it really alright to be swinging that thing all over the place?", Arthur questioned, giving Feliciano a sideways glance.

He nodded. "It's okay! It's just filled with blanks!", he explained. "He just thinks it makes him look cool or something, right fratello?"

This earned him an annoyed glare. "No, it's to get your weird friends to shut up," he countered.

"We're very sorry, but I truly think-"

Whatever Arthur was saying was cut off by an odd noise from outside. As Feliciano got up to look, he quickly noticed three familiar figures standing in the street. "They're here!", he quickly alerted the others.

Everyone seemed to get up at once, including Lovino, and basically just went out the front door. Not the best battle entrance ever, but it was fine.

Belarus turned as they approached her, eyes widening as they scanned over everyone present. "There's… why are you all here?"

"Happened to be in the neighborhood," England teased, transforming in a burst of white as he said it. "Now, the brilliant warrior of magic, England shall punish you!"

Kiku seemed to almost smile as he said this. He'd written the line earlier, saying it'd be a cool thing to say. Their enemies just looked at them funny, and Lovino snickered.

Still, Feliciano tried to remember the one that had been written for him. "A-and the shining warrior of, er, light, Italy will punish you!", he affirmed, the light of his own magic enveloping him.

"The bright guardian of the sea, Japan, will bring about your end!", Kiku declared, transforming in the same burst of light. After a silent moment, he looked over at Ludwig, who had started blushing violently. "Ah, that's your cue," he stage-whispered.

Ludwig transformed in a burst of light without any fanfares. "No. I- I really don't see the point of-"

"But it'd be cool!", Feliciano implored him.

Still blushing, Ludwig very quickly recited "Fine. Er, the warrior of precision, etcetera, Germany will defeat you."

Lovino seemingly just about lost it, and dissolved into laughter. "Ahaha, yes! Please, say that like, a thousand more times. That might just be the best thing you've ever done, potato-"

"Excuse me, but I believe we have some business to attend to," Ukraine interrupted.

Yes, please," Belarus huffed. "Just hand over Italy, and no one has to get hurt."

Lovino, having quickly recovered from Ludwig's introduction, fired a shot back at her. She jumped, like she couldn't tell it was fake. "Leave my brother alone or you'll learn what 'hurt' is!"

"Ah, and I was hoping we'd be able to save my dear sister without any fighting," Russia mused. Without him even moving, cold gusts of wind filled the air, biting at Feliciano's cheeks.

Familiar scarves began to fill the icy air as well, but England nodded at Ludwig and he used another one of those Razor Wire attacks. Silvery strands shot out, cutting the scarves to shreds.

Ukraine seemed to gasp as fabric shreds dissolved in air. "Finishing attack: Raindrop Halation!", Kiku called out, and droplets of water formed in the air, quickly freezing with Russia's cold. Still, they rushed into Ukraine, making her let out another cry as she fell to the ground.

"I'll help too!", Feliciano cried out. "Ah, Light Bullet!" A few shots came from the end of his flag and rammed into her.

"I'll finish this: Arcane Strike!", England cried out, and several magic charges formed at the tip of his wand and shot into Ukraine.

A small cough came from the woman, and Feliciano felt a bit guilty about attacking her. "Please forgive me," she muttered. "I don't think… well, I don't think I can fight any more."

"It's fine," Belarus huffed. "Retreat; we can handle this on our own."

Ukraine vanished in a flash of light, and Russia stepped forward. He was still smiling. "Very sorry, but I can't let my little sister get hurt," he affirmed.

It was like winter itself was attacking. Cold and ice seemed to rush straight towards Feliciano. He squinted to see through the cold, but only saw the snow. It surrounded him in every direction. He thought he heard someone calling out to him, but didn't feel much but the biting on his flesh.

And then, a sharp pain came. A knife had been thrown towards him, hitting his arm. Another came, and a cry of pain from his stomach announced its hitting. Blood came from the cut, and another came and hit his chest. He started to feel faint, but the wind started to subside.

"You think that should do it?", someone questioned, and they were answered "Just let me finish the job."

He could see Belarus coming towards him, smiling, but giving an odd laughing sob like she had the very first time they had fought. She never reached him, though.

"Get away from him!", Lovino yelled, and it felt like all the power was rushing away from Feliciano. White glowed instead around his brother, whose empty gun seemed to be covered with the same light and transform as he did. His brother stood in front of him in a tan uniform, holding a rather dangerous looking gun.

Feliciano knew they kept fighting. Yeah, he definitely knew that, because he could see the cyan circles and silver threads crossing around. But whatever Lovino had done, absorbing his power or whatever, it made those cuts Belarus had given him hurt a lot more than any other injuries he'd gotten fighting before. Red blossomed onto the pavement, and he tried very hard not to think about where it was coming from, or about the pounding in his head. He just tried to follow the brilliant colors filling the air.

Distantly, he heard a cry of "Finishing move: Hex Storm!", and the same comet streaks that had taken Norway out filled the air. Someone let out a cry of pain, and another flash of light signaled that someone had warped away.

A second later, he found a hand taking his own and pulling him to his feet. "Lovino, whatever you did, please undo it," Ludwig ordered. "Your brother needs to heal."

Lovino glanced at him, and he let out an odd noise. "Ah, right," he muttered. "Um, how do I-"

He made a sort of pushing motion with his hands, and magic seemed to shoot back into Feliciano's veins. The cuts stopped feeling like they were killing him and more like they needed bandaids. Stumbling a bit, he ran over to his brother and hugged him. "I didn't know you could use my magic!", he exclaimed. "That was super cool! I mean, it hurt a lot, but it was cool!"

An odd little chuckle came from his brother. "Well, I'm Lovino Freaking Vargas. Shouldn't be surprising that I saved your sorry-"

His boasting was cut off by a small cry. Feliciano turned to see a fairly battered Belarus making her way towards them, tears streaming down her face. "Please," she almost whispered. "Can- can you just let me win? I don't know what they'll do to me, but I'm scared. Come on, please just let me win!"

Stumbling, she kept walking towards him, but Feliciano didn't feel scared. No, he was just sorry for the girl. She seemed pretty nice, despite everything, and he didn't want her to suffer. Yeah, he didn't want to suffer either, but surely there was a way they could both "win".

"Can't you just not go back?", he suggested. She looked at him oddly, like he was being stupid. He probably was, but it was worth a shot. "I mean, you could always just not work with them."

She shook her head. "If I quit, they'll kill Ivan and Katyusha," she muttered. "I can't- I have to-"

A cyan circle blossomed under her. "Very sorry about this," Arthur apologized as a violet flame sprung up around her. Fading into white light, Belarus's scream lingered in the air far longer than it should have.

The magic around Feliciano fell away again. Red was still coming from his cuts, and his eyelids felt heavy. Was it his injuries or Lovino's magic that made him want to sleep so badly?

Either way, he saw the shadowy figure of Belarus continue to cry out in pain and beg to be spared in his dreams, but he also felt someone holding his hand as he watched it. Someone told him that everything would be fine, and in his haze, he managed to believe them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Romano did a thing! I know I didn't get his character quite right, but I really hate using profanity myself and it's a bit tricky to write him without it. Plus, it's how Italy perceives his brother, so it's hard to gather things like how he went out there because he was feeling left out of all the cool magic stuff. Also, I kind of feel bad for Belarus's fate, since I was starting to like her. Well, no, I don't feel bad. I'm a writer. I do not feel remorse. So, thanks for reading~!


	15. Crimson Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why am I still wearing this? Well, I can explain… Wait, no, that’s not what I meant! Is that... really how I feel?”
> 
> Kiku sort of screws up and leads Heracles to believe he’s in love with him. Completely unsure of if he is or not, Kiku sort of panics and calls up the one person he can trust with such things. Their conversation goes very oddly, to say the least…

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Fourteen- Crimson Calls_

After only a few days with the loud scream of the life of a Magical Girl in his ear, Kiku already found the silence hard to adjust to. Since they'd taken down Belarus's team, nothing at all had happened. No one had attacked, no one had told them anything, even Arthur adamantly refused to pick up his phone, it seemed.

Was this a good thing? Well, probably. After all, that last battle had been thoroughly exhausting for all involved, and he still felt a bit off from using so much magic at once. Still, as he walked into the animal shelter for the first time in a week, the now duller autumn leaves fluttering on the wind didn't seem to make him feel like he was a love interest confessing to his Senpai. No, it just made him wish he'd worn a jacket.

It was cold, and when he walked into the back entrance that felt less familiar than it should, it was still cold. Despite that, Heracles was asleep on the floor with nothing more than a few cats covering him. Another reason that he should have brought a jacket: if he had, he could have covered his co-worker. But instead, he bent down and shook his shoulder lightly.

Brilliant green eyes flickered open at once, and after a second, Heracles assumed a sleepy smile. "Kiku," he muttered. "Um, good morning, I guess."

"Sorry to wake you," he quickly apologized. "And I am also incredibly sorry I haven't been here in so long. Things have just been…"

Okay, they'd been absolutely, perfectly, suspiciously normal, but that would be too hard to explain. Luckily, as he pushed himself up, Heracles gave a nod of understanding. "Of course, I understand. Life always continues to act despite having other plans, and it doesn't always leave time for friends. Or cats." He pet one of the ones that brushed past him as he said that last part.

Heracles then looked up, and his drooping eyes widened as he looked at Kiku before quickly looking back down and blushing. "You know, it's really fine if you don't wear that bell," he said with an awkward chuckle. "It was a silly gift, you don't have to wear it to make me feel better."

Bell? Shame, he'd almost managed to forget about the odd source of his power. The fact that he had been wearing it for the past week floated back to the forefront of his mind, and the chill of the room suddenly felt significantly warmer. "Ah, well, actually…"

How was he going to explain why he was still wearing it, exactly? Just out and say that it was the source of his magic, or lie and said he liked it? Neither really seemed right; he cared too much about Heracles to drag him into his insane existence, but also too much to lie.

So he skirted around the issue. "It- it means a lot to me," he said, and that wasn't a lie. "It was given to me by someone I care very much about because he cares very much about me. Despite how silly it may look, the emotions it carries are precious to me."

"And you mean that?", Heracles questioned, raising an eyebrow and turning a bit redder. Perhaps the cold actually was getting to him, but Kiku didn't feel anything but warmth in the room.

"Of- of course," Kiku muttered, feeling like his words weren't being taken like he'd meant. "Why would I not mean it?"

Heracles stared at him for a moment, like he was the only thing in the room of interest. "I had no idea… you felt that way…", he finally said after a moment. "I- I feel the same. I have… for a while, I suppose."

"...huh?" The way Heracles was saying it made it sound like a love confession, not a declaration of mutual friendship.

He kept going, and made him even more sure he'd messed up somehow. "Kiku, I… I don't know what to say. That bell, I got it because it made me think of you. Of how when we first met I saw you were reading Tokyo Mew Mew and we started talking about it and cats and everything. And how you're the only person I've ever met who likes cats as much as me. Or who I like as much as cats."

Kiku was absolutely positive he was burning as red as a strawberry and also that this was, in fact, a love confession. He couldn't even begin to comprehend what he saw, so simply tried to not simply die on the spot. "I- I-" He tried to stutter something out, but no words came. He just didn't know what was happening and his heart was beating like crazy and he'd never been more terrified in his life. "That- y- you- uh- I- eh- s-suki desu-?"

"Sorry, am I overdoing it?", Heracles questioned with a sheepish smile.

He couldn't even produce any words. Kiku didn't know anything anymore, and just needed to think. "E-excuse me for a moment," he quickly exclaimed, and rushed out the door and back into the cold.

Breathing heavily, he tried to think. What had just happened? Did he really like Heracles in that way? Was that really what he was trying to say?

His heart was beating too fast and his mind was spinning too wildly to think straight. He needed to talk to someone, someone else who would be able to tell him what he should do. Pulling his phone out, he scrolled through contacts. Feli? No, he was even more of a hopeless romantic than Kiku. Ludwig? He knew nothing about saying how he felt, let alone romantically. Gilbert? He had never taken anything seriously in his life, and he was sure he wouldn't start now.

The person he really needed was Yao. His older brother was the only person he could really trust with such a predicament, but he hadn't called in ages. Would he even pick up? He dialed the number, praying that he wouldn't go to voice mail.

After two agonizingly long tones, a familiar voice came from his phone. "Hello?"

Kiku let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, I was scared you wouldn't pick up."

"Is something wrong, aru?"

"You… could say that," Kiku muttered. "See, I may have accidentally told a friend I was in love with him and he may have said he likes my back."

"Huh," Yao took a second to answer. "Well, are you in love with him?"

That was a very good question, and one he didn't really know how to answer. With his heart pounding and face burning, he tried to think. "I really don't know," he admitted. "I care about him a lot, and I do feel a bit differently about him than I do anyone else, but I truly don't know how I feel right now."

"Then just don't do anything rash, aru," his brother advised. "You're probably too panicked right now to think clearly, so you should wait until the moment passes and if you find you truly do like him, then you can reassess."

A smile came to Kiku's face. Just wait for it to blow over before acting, that was a much better idea than he could have thought up with heat and adrenaline surging through him. "Thank you. I'll do that."

"Glad I could help," his brother stated. "Ah, but if you don't mind me asking, how exactly does one accidentally confess their love, aru?"

"That's a bit of a long story," Kiku admitted. However, it would be unfair not to tell it. After all, Lovino and Gilbert knew about the Nation Scout thing too. "But, well, he gave me this silly necklace- this little cat bell thing, and it turned out I was able to channel some sort of magic to transform with it into-"

"A magical warrior of a country," Yao finished almost sadly. "I already know this story, aru. I've lived it enough to be sorry you had to get involved."

His heart stopped beating hard and fast and started to struggle to find a rhythm at all. "You- you're a Nation Scout too?"

"Yes. I can summon China's power, and I've had to fight my fair share of people who would like to use that power for themselves."

"We've fought people as well," Kiku said. "But they haven't been attacking us lately. It's been nearly a week since we've fought anyone, so there's nothing to worry about."

His brother let out an audible sigh of relief. "So they've decided you aren't worth their time. That's good. Just lay low and they won't feel a need to provoke you and… wait, who else are were you talking about?"

"My friends Feliciano and Ludwig," Kiku explained. "They're Italy and Germany."

The silence from the other line lasted far too long to be normal, but it was finally broken. "G8 countries are dangerous to associate with, Kiku. I know they're your friends, but you should be careful around them."

"But… I'm also a G8 Country, right?", Kiku questioned. "I mean, I've done research, and Japan is definitely a G8-"

"Japan?", his brother repeated, the tone making it sound like a terrible thing to be. "You- you need to be careful. If you're that powerful, they'll pursue you to the ends of the earth, and if they've stopped going after you, that can only mean they're planning something. And they- they're capable of some terrible things."

"Like what?"

With an odd groan, his brother started listing names. "Li Xiao Chun, Im Yong Soo, Xiao Mei: what do they all have in common?"

"They're our cousins?" Kiku offered. "And, er, I haven't heard from any of them in years, I suppose."

"That's understandable," Yao said gravely. "Considering they were all Countries, and were all killed for that reason alone."

A pang of sorrow shone in his chest, and Kiku began to feel oddly lonely. He'd never been too close to any of them, but he supposed now he never would get to be. "I'm so sorry," that was the only thing he could think to say.

"The only thing I'm saying is that I don't want you to end up like that," his brother said, a kind smile evident in his voice. "And I promise you I won't either. So be careful. And I'll let you get back to your friend."

"Wait!", Kiku called out. He'd remembered something he was supposed to ask Yao next time they spoke. "Feliciano, he said that the other day in a dream he saw a symbol. It sounded like kanji, but I didn't recognize it, so I said I'd ask you."

"Oh? What did it look like, aru?"

He tried to remember. "Ah, it was like a ladder, almost. Three rectangles stacked on top of each other with trails as legs."

Nothing came from the other end. Only silence. After far too long, and a few questions of "Are you still there?", he looked at his phone only to see he'd been hung up on.

He would have worried, but honestly, he just felt like he should probably warn his friends about what his brother had said. He could have just sent them a text, but he couldn't bear the thought of facing Heracles at the moment. He still needed to calm down, and driving over to Feliciano's house to discuss it in person would provide him just the instance he needed.

So he quickly ducked in, told Heracles that something had come up and he'd be right back, and left without ever once laying eyes upon the person who was still making him feel so uneasy. No, that uneasiness wasn't just his, it was Yao's, and his fallen cousins'. Those were also reasons he couldn't be there right then. Those were also reasons that he left.

It wasn't far to Feliciano's house, and unsurprisingly, Ludwig was already there. If he'd been with someone, Kiku would have surely placed a bet on whether or not Feliciano would be asleep next to Ludwig when he entered, and he would have won that bet, as through the window he could see Feli jump as he rang the doorbell.

Ludwig let him in, asking "Didn't you say you had something to do today?", and he simply shook his head and sat down on a familiar chair.

"Actually, I had an interesting conversation with my brother I thought you might want to hear about," he began.

"Oh, is Yao a cool Nation guy too?", Feliciano questioned.

Kiku nodded. "It would seem so. However, that isn't the interesting part. You see-"

The annoying ringtone of Feliciano's phone interrupted him. With a glance at it, Feliciano smiled and set the phone on the table. "It's Arthur!", he explained. "Here, I'll put it on speaker."

Answering it, Feliciano sat back down and loudly greeted "Ciao! It's been ages since you've said anything, and nothing's really happened! What's been going-"

He was cut off by a very loud voice that definitely was not Arthur's. "Okay, where the hell is my brother?", yelled the voice.

"Excuse me?", Ludwig loudly questioned. "Your brother? Who is this?"

"I am Alfred F. Jones!", yelled the phone. "Brother of Arthur Kirkland and enemy of all who oppose justice! This number was the last one to call him, and the last one he talked to, so whoever you are, Mr. 'Feliciano-slash-Italy', you have to know what happened to him!"

Everyone else seemed just as stunned as Kiku was, but he tried to give some sort of response. "We haven't heard from Arthur all week. Did something happen?"

"He's been missing since Tuesday!", Alfred shouted. "Just up and left, didn't even take his phone. Whoever you are, you've got to know something, so tell me!"

Anxious glances were exchanged. Something must have happened with a fight, Kiku thought, but how were they going to tell his brother that?

Finally, Ludwig managed to say something. "Well, truthfully, we don't know what happened, but he was involved in something that could have led to it. However, he said specifically he didn't want you to get involved."

Alfred laughed. "Yeah right! There's nothing I couldn't handle, old Artie knows that! Tell me what you know, or I'll track you down and make you tell me, no matter what it takes!"

"I suppose you deserve to know if something did happen to him," Kiku stated, thinking of the list of the dead he'd been given so thoughtlessly. He didn't want this kid end up having to find his brother's name within a pile of casualties, or never even know what had occurred. "But I fear it's unsafe to tell you over phone. If you would come over here, we could try to explain it."

That was untrue. There was no reason the call would be unsafe, but Kiku somehow felt it was best to discuss it in person. If something went wrong, it would be better to not be left alone with shock and be given three semi-informed people to comfort him.

Still, Alfred seemed not to be phased. "Give me the address. I'll be right over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life hack: whenever writing a dramatic (read: silly and shouty) entrance for America, listen to Spear of Justice while doing it. Also, listen to Tiki's theme from a Fire Emblem game of choice while writing for China. Speaking of which, I struggled with finding the appropriate amount of "aru"s to use in his speech. Hope what I came up with works well enough. 
> 
> And I am very very VERY sorry to fans of South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. They're all dead, they've been long dead, and I am sorry. Okay, I'm not sorry that I killed them, only that you won't get to see them do cool things. Well, I guess there's always flashbacks... What, that's not foreshadowing! So, thanks for reading~!


	16. Achromatic Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Nice to meet you! So, about your brother, well, it’s a really long story…”
> 
> Feliciano meets Arthur’s brother, who turns out to be even more of a ditz than himself. Also, he seems a bit too enthusiastic about his brother possibly being in mortal danger.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Fifteen- Achromatic Revelation_

It seemed Arthur had vanished off the face of the earth and Arthur's brother insisted upon talking to them about what had happened. Also, Kiku's brother was also a country and had said something "interesting", but Kiku didn't follow up on that. Probably because he could tell Feliciano was sort of freaking out, but maybe he just got sidetracked.

Or maybe it was just because all of them were sort of freaking out. Okay, maybe not Ludwig so much, but he wasn't really a freaking-out type of person. Feliciano was, as always, really really grateful for this, because Alfred seemed to live way too far away and they were pretty much left waiting for the rest of time for him to get there.

Honestly, it probably didn't look like they were waiting for anything. The TV was on, and Feliciano sort of watched the cartoon that it flipped onto while Kiku seemed to be playing some game on his phone. Ludwig was still annoyedly amending his planner, using a thing of white-out Feliciano had let him borrow to remove his work schedule from it.

Apparently, his manager (Feliks or something? He couldn't remember the name, but it had sounded foreign) had fired him without any good reason, saying that his help wasn't needed there any more? This was sort of confusing, given Ludwig had said he'd practically run the place and that his manager couldn't even remember to open the store by himself, but it wasn't like he was the only one who didn't get it. He didn't remember ever seeing Ludwig so confused before, to be honest.

Finally, Kiku said something to break the uncomfortable silence. "Ah, so, earlier today, I might have accidentally led Heracles to think I had a crush on him," he quietly admitted.

"Oh, 'led him to believe'?", Ludwig countered. "Well, I can't possibly see how he might think that."

"Well, he talks about him all the time and thinks he's handsome and has him in his phone as 'Heracles-kun'," Feliciano provided. "Maybe that's why he thinks-"

Ludwig sighed. "That was sarcasm, Feli."

"Does it really seem that way to you?", Kiku questioned. "Honestly, I have no idea how to feel, but if I hadn't panicked and run out, I think he was starting to tell me he liked me back."

A smile came to Feliciano's mouth. "You should go for it!", he exclaimed. "He seems like a really nice guy, and he sends you cute cat pictures. Really, I don't see what more you could want."

"Well first, you should probably apologize to him for leaving," Ludwig butted in.

Kiku blushed as he typed something into his phone. "I feel sort of bad now," he muttered. "Probably made him think I'd rejected him."

"Then apologize for making him feel rejected," Ludwig suggested.

"But that would make him think I'm not rejecting him," Kiku countered.

"Are you?"

"No clue."

"You should still apologize."

"But I really don't know!"

"What does that have to do with apologizing?"

"An awful lot, actually! What if he asks if I like him again?"

They went back and forth like that for a while, Feliciano occasionally trying to suggest something but finding that everyone else was talking way too quickly for him to get anything in. He only got to say something once the doorbell rang ten thousand times and an unfamiliar shadow was cast upon the windows by the door.

Feliciano said "Hey, he's here!" and got up to answer the door, by which time he'd begun knocking as well. He'd no sooner unlocked the thing than it was swung open by someone who really didn't look very much like Arthur. His hair was a darker blond, his eyes bright blue rather than leafy green, and he was a fair bit tanner than England.

Still, he was sure it was Alfred when he loudly, and in the same voice that had rang out of the phone a moment ago, exclaimed "Alright, the hero is here! Now what'd you wanna talk about?"

"Ah, welcome, come in!", Feliciano greeted in an attempt to be polite.

"Oh, right," Alfred chuckled, and proceeded to run into the doorframe before actually managing to step inside. "So, tell me the things!", he said as if nothing had happened.

Sitting back down, Feliciano tried to think of a place to start. However, before he could say anything, Ludwig annoyedly told the still standing beside the door Alfred "You can sit down, you know."

He did so, but sort of managed to run into a chair before actually sitting down in it. "You know, come to think of it, this is like, right by where an old friend of mine lives," Alfred remarked.

"Really?", pressed Feliciano. Honestly, given how his friends and brother had powers, and how Arthur seemed to have known Francis, it wouldn't surprise him if he knew that friend. "What's their name? I've lived here forever, I probably know them."

Alfred looked around for a second, squinting oddly. "Weird, this looks like his house too. You might not know him. He stopped talking to me out of nowhere like, two years ago, so I dunno if he moved or died or what, but his name was Lovino Vargas, I think?"

It took Feliciano a second to fully register that last part. "You mean my brother?"

"Your… brother?" Alfred looked a bit confused, but started laughing. "Wow, small world, huh? Yeah, I guess I do mean him! You really don't look much like him though. Is he here?"

"No, he is not," Ludwig stated. "But I find it a bit hard to believe you don't see any resemblance between the two."

Come to think of it, Feliciano had never heard that before. "Yeah, people usually ask if we're twins! We even both have little hair curl thingies!"

Alfred squinted. "Yeah, you do have one of those," he remarked. "Didn't see that at first. Wow, that brings me back! I remember one time I almost accidentally poked it, and, well, let's just say he totally tried to kill me with a plastic spork."

"That sounds like him," Kiku remarked. "But are you quite certain you don't need glasses? It takes a lot to miss their resemblance."

"Absolutely not!", Alfred shouted. "I do just fine without them, no matter what anyone says!"

Everyone else seemed as startled as Feliciano felt after that. Okay, maybe not as startled, as he was "startled" into pretty much jumping out of his seat, but still. Alfred, however, shrugged and started "So, what'd you want to tell me, anyways?"

They tried to explain everything as best they could. Alfred didn't say anything for once as they did so. Superpowered Nation people? Not a word. Reincarnated Superpowered Nation people? Still nothing. Even mentioning the evil ones didn't get even so much as a "hm".

And he was still quiet once they finished talking. Or at least he was until Ludwig prompted "Well?"

"Sorry, I didn't think you were done," he explained. Then, he made a weird noise that sounded like the one Kiku made whenever a new Pokemon game was announced. "Just, like, oh my god that was awesome! So this is like, really for real? Please tell me it's real. Like, but really, is this for real?"

"Yes," Kiku said flatly. "It's most certainly real. And it isn't something to be taken lightly, either. We've gotten hurt in these battles."

That was definitely true. Feliciano tried to push his sleeve up to show the scar from where Belarus had thrown a knife at him in a snowstorm the other day, exclaiming "Yeah! Fake stuff doesn't scar like this, right?"

Alfred stood up to look at the scar closer, and then let out another small squeal. "Totally for real…" he muttered. "This is all kinds of awesome! But like, why didn't Artie tell me 'bout it? He knows I love this sort of stuff."

"I would imagine that's just why he didn't tell you," Ludwig explained. "This isn't a comic book. People get hurt, people die, and this is almost certainly why your brother disappeared."

"Oh, I'm sure he's just off fighting the evil Nation Scout guys," Alfred said flippantly. "Besides, he's like, super duper powerful, right? So he'll totally be fine!"

Kiku took a deep breath. "No, he won't be 'fine'," he said. "My own cousins disappeared after finding their powers, and I didn't find out until years later they'd died. For all you know, and I truly hate to say such a thing, but he could be-"

"No way!", Alfred affirmed. "He's strong, and I'm sure he's fine. Besides, if he really was in trouble, he'd probably have like, not left his phone, right?"

Something about that didn't entirely make sense, but Feliciano hoped it was somehow true.

"You should probably go home now," Ludwig insisted. "You have another brother, right? You should probably break this news to him as gently as you can, and try to explain it to your parents as well."

Alfred stood up and cast Ludwig an annoyed look. "Our parents are literally never around, but whatever. I'll go tell Mattie how cool this all is. So like, tell me if you hear from him, okay?"

"Yeah, totally!", Feliciano called after him as he left, half thinking he saw a flash of green enter the house as Alfred exited it.

Not a second after the door closed did Ludwig say "Well, I can see why Arthur didn't want him to get involved."

"His enthusiasm is a bit overwhelming," Kiku sighed. "And he doesn't understand it in the slightest."

"Oh, but he seemed nice!", Feliciano countered.

"Nice, perhaps, but he doesn't take anything seriously," Ludwig remarked. "There's no way he could be involved with this, right?"

Kiku nodded in agreement. "Most certainly not. And unless we find something out about his brother, we need to keep it that way."

"Yeah, Arthur said he didn't want to involve him," Feliciano agreed.

"So we're all in agreement," Ludwig stated. "Very good. Now, Kiku, what were you saying about your cousins?"

Frowning, Kiku flipped his phone back out. "Well, that's what Yao was telling me. A few of my cousins: Li Xiao Chun, Im Yong Soo, and Xiao Mei, they were Nation Scouts as well and apparently died as a result of it."

"Wait, I know them!", another voice exclaimed.

Flying Mint Bunny shot out behind the couch. Ludwig rubbed his eyes, doing a double take before muttering "So it does exist…"

"You bet I do!", Flying Mint Bunny declared. "But those people you were talking about, uh, they were Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan! Didn't really know the last two, but Hong Kong, I totally knew him!"

"You did?", Kiku questioned. "Do you know how he died?"

Gulping, Flying Mint Bunny nodded. "Uh, yeah, actually. And I'm really, really super sorry about that, because I was the one who found him and told him he had powers, so it's sort of my fault…"

"That doesn't make it your fault," Kiku assured him. "You told him what he was, and I'm sure you did the best you could to guide him."

"Yeah, but, well," Flying Mint Bunny gave an odd cough and then seemed to regain a bit of its enthusiasm. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, he was actually totally awesome! He had some really cool explosion powers, and he was a like, rogue Country on the run from both the bad guys and everyone else, and he was partners with Iceland! And that's actually super cool, because Iceland's power was like, super cool too, no pun intended. He could like, see the future, and see where enemies were gonna attack, and he had this signal thing with Hong Kong. I think it was based on the Chinese character for eye, but Iceland always had this like, weird thing that looked like a square without the bottom line on one hand, and with the other he would drag two fingers across and flick them to indicate where Hong Kong needed to strike! And then the enemy would almost always be where Hong Kong set the explosion, and it would be super cool! But yeah, they both sort of got captured and killed."

Kiku gave an odd chuckle. "Seems you're very familiar with their fighting style- wait, that symbol you mentioned, you said it meant 'eye'?"

"Yeah, I think so, but-"

Whatever it was going to say next was lost in the clicking of the keyboard in Kiku's phone. He then seemed to pull something up and held it out. It was a picture of a kanji character that looked like 目.

Feliciano recognized the symbol instantly. "Hey, that's the one from my dream!"

"Oh yeah, I think that was the thing you showed me," Flying Mint Bunny remarked, giving an odd chuckle. "Can't believe I didn't catch that at first!"

"So we know what it is, but why would he be dreaming of the signal used by Iceland and Hong Kong?", Ludwig questioned.

Yeah, why would he dream of that? Feliciano started to ask it out loud himself, but Flying Mint Bunny cut him off. "Dreams are weird like that, you know? Well, anyways, that's not why I'm here."

"Why are you here, then?", Kiku questioned.

Flying Mint Bunny took a perch on the coffee table, and Feliciano could see it was holding a rather beat up scrap of paper. "Well, I guess you've noticed by now England's gone missing; can't imagine why you'd contact his brother otherwise. So, I was looking for him, and I came across this cool old photograph of the G8. Or well, you know, the old G8. Wanna see?"

It flipped the paper over, and the three of them gathered around to look. Feliciano's breath caught in his throat as he saw it.

Despite being a very faded achromatic piece, and despite having absolutely no memory of the photograph being taken, Feliciano could recognize every single figure in the picture. Someone who looked exactly like himself, down to the squinting eyes and hair curl was standing behind a seated man who looked exactly like Ludwig, even replicating the inability to smile for pictures. A person who looked uncannily like Kiku was behind them, doing a V-sign and standing beside a half-cut off Yao. Arthur was there too, giving a sideways smirk and seemingly with his arm around a torn off figure to his left.

However, most startling of all wasn't Russia, who both looked exactly as he had when attacking him and was standing a bit uncomfortably close to his picture-self. No, that would be the person seated in front of picture-Arthur: the exact image of Alfred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand we get to add Iceland to the death count, but hey, at least he went out in style. Presumably. FMB sure seems to care an awful lot about collective HongIce, though. Wonder why that is. Also, note that someone was cut off from that picture... Anyways, thanks for reading~!


	17. Fairy Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 16- “Hey, hey, Mattie! Something totally awesome happened and- wait, no, come back! I swear, I’m not making any of this up!”
> 
> Alfred attempts to tell his twin about the whole Nation Scout thing. He doesn’t take it well.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Sixteen- Fairy Blue_

"Hey, Mattie!"

Alfred's twin looked up as he entered the room. "Oh, there you are," Matthew said. "Where did you run off to, anyways?"

"I told you, I had to go talk to some guys about Artie, 'member?"

"Eh? Is that what you meant?" his brother questioned. "All you said was that you needed to go find something out, so I figured you were just going to google something, but then you drove off."

Sitting down next to Matthew, Alfred shook his head. "No, it was important stuff, and I know where he is now, sort of, or at least what he's doing."

"Really?", Matthew said, tilting his head. "Have you heard from him? Is he alright? What's going on? When will he be back?"

"Well, I didn't hear from him, but some friends of him talked to me about it. No idea when he'll be back, but I'm sure he's fine."

Looking away, Matthew sighed. "Thank god, I was starting to worry. But… where is he? And why is he not here?"

"Well, that's a long and complicated story," Alfred admitted. "But it's a totally awesome one, so I'm happy to tell it!"

His twin gave him one of those weird looks, like the ones he gave whenever he said something that he didn't mean to be funny but Arthur would laugh at it anyways. "Um… okay?"

"So, there are these super cool superhero guys who are like, the spirits of countries. Like, you know, America and Japan and England and Canadia and stuff."

"-you mean Canada?", his brother muttered.

"Yeah, that. So, superheroes, and like, they all got killed in some sort of super epic battle or something, I don't really know the specifics. And then they got reincarnated into humans, who discover their super cool powers and use them to fight other reincarnated countries who are evil and stuff! Cool, right?"

It took Matthew like, way too long to react properly, but once he did, it was a simple, strained chuckle. "Ehe, this isn't really the time to be telling me about some new comic, you know."

"Nonono, let me finish!", Alfred exclaimed. "So, like, Arthur is totally one of them! Like, he's England or something and those friends of his I was talking to are like, Italy and Japan and like, Germany, I think? I dunno, he might have been something else, but he yells a lot and I'm pretty sure he's gay for Italy, who's like, Lovi's little brother? Remember him? Crazy right? But he's not as hot as him, but he seems like a cool guy. And Japan… well, I think his name was Kiku? Apparently, they all have cool powers and stuff but they wouldn't show me 'cause they can't waste their energy on non-awesome thing or something. So basically, Artie's probably off fighting evil or something and he'll probably be home soon, 'cause apparently he's like super strong and stuff so no need to worry, okay?"

Matthew simply blinked at a blank patch on the wall for a moment, before turning to his twin and giving an annoyed huff. "This isn't funny! Arthur's missing, and you're acting like it's the plot of some anime!"

"Anime is real, Mattie!", Alfred insisted. "This is what those guys told me! This is all real!"

"Look, those guys are probably just jerks who were playing a trick on you or something," Matthew insisted. "There is no way something like that could possibly be real. I know it's nice to think you have something to blame, but really, do you think it's possible that something else happened to Ar-"

He was interrupted by the buzzing of Arthur's phone. Alfred pulled it out and found that it was signalling a text from… he squinted to see the text and turned the brightness up a bit. Feliciano/Italy?

"FMB showed us a cool thing. It's a pic of us all back when we were actual countries and not just reincarnation things," Alfred read off to his brother, adding a "Ha, told you it was real" for good measure. "It's actually really freaky!"

"What is a FMB?", questioned Matthew, and Alfred realized he also had no idea. So he texted that question back.

It took a second for a response to come. "It stands for Flying Mint Bunny. It is an invisible green rabbit that tells us things about us and our powers. I do not know how it knows these things it knows."

A second later, he added "Okay, it just said that it knows them because it's magic and has been around for a while and it's its job to know things. Or something like that. Um, line, slash, underscore- wait, no, that's an emoticon."

"This has to be a joke," Matthew stated. "And it's really not funny. Please, Alfred, just listen to me! If something's happened to Arthur, we need to be trying to find out what it is, or at very least contact the police, not making up insane stories!"

Something in Alfred's heart sank. "I wouldn't make something up like this!", he insisted. "Why would I ever make something like this up? I just wanted to tell you that wherever Arthur is, he can take care of himself so we don't need to worry!"

Matthew cringed. "I-I'm sorry!", he quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to insult you or accuse you of not caring- I really am sorry!"

"It's fine, bro," Alfred assured him, and the phone buzzed again. This time, it was a photograph of what looked like a really torn up old photograph. So, basically a picture of a picture, and probably the one Italy had mentioned before. He zoomed in and squinted, and let out a gasp as he saw someone who looked pretty much exactly like Arthur, but in old-timey clothes. "See, what did I tell you!", he exclaimed, shoving it in his twin's face. "Reincarnation things!"

Eyes widening, Matthew muttered "No, this can't be- Alfred, how are we in this picture?"

"Are we?", Alfred questioned, looking back at it. There was a figure seated in front of Arthur, wearing some weird jacket, glasses, and giving a thumbs up along with a broad smile. His heart caught in his throat- that person was definately himself.

"Wait, but I- I'm magic too?", he cried. If learning about all this stuff being real had seemed like the pinnacle of his life, then this was flying off the pinnacle into the stratosphere like a majestic eagle. It sort of made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and he was really freaked out and amazed at the same time.

Laughter was all that would come out of his mouth, but his brother still seemed to be a bit shaken up over the whole thing. "How am I there too, though? I didn't even know any of this- this doesn't make any sense!"

"You're in here? Where?", Alfred questioned, trying to focus on something other than how incredible the moment was. He scanned the picture, seeing really nothing that looked like Matthew. "Uh, seriously, where are you? Are you the guy standing next to Artie who has like, most of his body except for his arm cut off?"

Matthew grabbed the phone for a second and zoomed in on a table in the dead center of it. Alfred stared at it, wondering sincerely why he was supposed to be staring at a table before realizing that someone who looked pretty much identical to his twin was sitting on it, arms and legs politely crossed. "Oh, yeah. There you are."

"I- um, need to go to my room for a second…", Matthew muttered, giving him the phone back and standing up. "Curl up on the bed and think deeply about life…"

"Have fun!", he called after his brother as he walked away.

Alfred started to text Italy back and express his sheer joy at having proof that he, in fact, was also an awesome country superhero, but got a bit lost in thought on the way. What country even could he be? He hoped he was somewhere awesome, like Engl- wait, Arthur was already England. Maybe he was like, Russia or Greece or somewhere cool like that? Or, he supposed, he could be Canadia, since he was born there. But… he really wasn't very Canadian. Mattie was rather Canadian, so he was probably Canada.

He continued on this train of thought for a little while until the phone started ringing. It wasn't any number he recognized, but he answered it, thinking that if it was a wrong number he could enact some epic counter prank calling procedure or something.

However, before he could think of something clever to say, a trembling, familiar voice answered. "Ah, hello. I don't know who has this phone, but whoever it is, I have an urgent message for you to pass on. See, in the contact list of this phone, there should be someone named Feliciano. I need you to pass on a message to him, please."

"Okay, bro, I'll pass it on," Alfred said. "And are you okay, Artie? You sound sorta freaked out."

It took a second for Arthur to answer, but when he did, he sounded even more frazzled than before. "Alfred? Oh god, how did you get my phone?"

"You left it on the counter after yelling at me about remembering to wear the glasses that I totally don't need," Alfred explained. "Anyways, where are you? Off fighting evil country guys?"

Even more silence followed, so he had to prompt "Uh, Artie?"

"How- how do you even know about that?", he questioned in a breathless whisper. "Who told you?"

"Your friends told me 'cause I was getting worried and I called that Feliciano guy up to ask if he knew what happened to you," he said. "They explained everything to me- oh, and Mattie and I are totally cool Country things too!"

"What?", Arthur barked into the phone, somewhere between a whisper and a yell.

"Okay, like, I don't know how to use my powers, but they sent me a picture of an old photograph of all of us in our previous lives or whatever and this guy who looked exactly like you was in it and so were guys that looked just like me and Mattie."

More silence, and then a sigh. "I- I didn't want to involve you," his brother muttered. "Please, just stay out of trouble!"

"No problem! Just tell me where you are and I can come help you stay out of trouble yourself!"

"I- I think it's a bit too late for that," Arthur practically whispered. "Ah, you see, that's the reason behind my call- and I wouldn't be saying that if I didn't think I had another choice, but you're the most stubborn person I've ever met and even if I just told you to read off another number for me to call, you'd still find a way to involve yourself."

It felt like cold water had began to run through his body as he registered how defeated his brother sounded. Something was wrong. "What- what happened?"

"Ah well, about fighting 'evil countries'..." Arthur gave a humorless laugh. "I believe I bit off a tad more than I could chew, and I ended up getting captured."

"You what?" The words sounded incomprehensible. "But- you're like, really powerful, right? And I mean, you're the hero! Heroes don't-"

Another deep sigh. "Alfred, I am not the 'hero'. I am a man who just wants to live as normally as he can with the powers he's been given," he insisted. "And even if I'm strong, I was overpowered. I'm far from the strongest, and I should have realized that before being willing to take someone like that on."

"Someone like who?", Alfred pressed.

"Well, another Country, and that's about all I know," Arthur stated. "Anyways, I'm being detained in some cell somewhere in some bace. No clue where, but I'll try to find out and let you know. Managed to swipe a phone off one of the guards, but I'm still afraid I'll be overheard. It's… well, extremely boring. I have a pack of chalk and no magic, so I basically just have to entertain myself with escape plans."

Everything hit Alfred like a ton of bricks. His brother was in need of a hero, and he had the power to be just that. "I'll get you out of there," he vowed. "Don't worry, okay?"

Suddenly, a distant gasp came from the other side of the phone, and he was sure he could hear crying. "Alfred, I am so sorry," his brother said softly. "I- I never wanted you to get caught up in this. I-It's dangerous. People die like this, and I don't want you to be one of them."

Things must have been really bad. He hadn't heard Arthur cry since… well, since all that business with Francis a while back. "I won't," he promised. "And I'm really sorry I yelled at you last time I saw you before you got captured. I- I probably need glasses, alright? I'll wear them if it makes you feel better."

"Yes, it would make me feel better to know you aren't wandering around, trying to save me half blind!", Arthur half-laughed. "And please, tell Matthew I'm alright, won't you?"

"Yeah, sure," Alfred agreed. "Actually, he's just in the other room. You can talk to him yourself if you wa-"

A sudden gasp came from the other side of the phone, and then dead silence. Arthur had hung up, or something else had happened. Either way, he didn't like how that ended.

Whatever had happened, he supposed he should probably pass on Arthur's message to his twin, even if he wasn't sure it was true anymore. But first, he got up and went over to the counter. His glasses were sitting there, and Alfred wiped them off before putting them on. Even if he didn't like how he looked with them on, he saw a lot better with them on, and contacts drove him crazy.

His home came back into focus, and he realized how much he really did need them. Things actually had texture and edges! And there was a green flying rabbit floating in front of him- wait, what?

"What the- who are you?", he questioned the thing. "And where did you come from?"

"That's a long story, but I'm Flying Mint Bunny! Nice to meet you!", greeted the distinctly British-sounding rabbit, holding a paw out for him to shake. Alfred took it uneasily, unsure whether this thing was awesome or terrifying. "Italy sent me over here to make sure you understood how everything worked. I wasn't sure how I would be able to do that, since you couldn't see me before, but I guess you can now."

"B-before? Before what?"

The rabbit shrugged- how did rabbits shrug? "Oh, I've been living here for the past several months! You just haven't had powers until now, so you haven't been able to see me."

"Then how did I just get powers?", Alfred questioned. "I mean, I just put on my glasses and poof- you were there."

"Well, it's possible it was the glasses," Flying Mint Bunny explained. "I overheard you talking to Arthur, and it seems like you two had a falling out over them, so you wearing them again symbolizes the strengthening of your bonds, right?"

"...what?"

Flying Mint Bunny sighed. "Okay, I have a lot to explain to you. Might want to sit down for this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> England's in a bit of a tight spot, isn't he? But enough about that, 'cause the next chapter will be something a bit... different. Hint: it'll show a very... different POV. Not one of the main protagonists. But not to worry, the chapter after next will return to the main plot... for the most part. 
> 
> PS, yes, the chapter title is a Soul Eater reference. Look, due to the schematics of the chapter titles, it was either that or another chapter named after the color red. I try to give each chapter a title involving a color on or a shade of a color on the viewpoint character's country's flag, and every viewpoint character so far has had red on their flag, and it actually happens to have a lot of convenient applications in title names, so that's why there have been so many red chapters. So, Fairy Blue it was.


	18. Paralogue 1- Exit Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I have no choice but to greet my best friend after four years of unexplained absence by stabbing him in the back. That makes me a terrible person, doesn’t it?”
> 
> Bonus Chapter! Lithuania attempts to reconnect with his old friend for the sole purpose of activating his powers and capturing him to be used as a surveillance agent. And generally feels like a piece of trash in doing so.

_Magitalia_

_Parallel Chapter One- Exit Wounds_

The all too familiar light of the teleporter faded, revealing a place that looked far too familiar. Toris (no, he'd lost the right to a human name long ago) had been to this town enough times in his life to recognize it on sight- he'd grown up not too far from there, after all. It was mid fall, late afternoon, and the familiar feel of it was almost enough to make him feel human again.

Well, almost enough, but then he remembered the thing he'd been sent there to do. He'd been ordered to attempt to activate the powers of one of the many suspected Nations, which they had been unable to provoke otherwise despite some evidence he wasn't even going to pretend to understand leading them to believe it to be so. Most likely reasoning was that the subject lacked a Catalyst- an item that they could manifest emotion from to transform.

Normally, when trying to get someone to transform, it took a while. Building friendships, or convincing someone else to give them something, but for this particular subject, they had a bit of a shortcut. Which is why he felt like a complete piece of trash: he hadn't been able to even speak to Feliks in years, and yet he was meant to reconnect with him just to provide a reason for his "employers" to exploit him for surveillance purposes.

There was a scrap of paper in his hand, reading out the address he needed to go to. The street name was familiar for some reason- maybe he'd had to find it before?- but he still had to ask someone for directions. He acted lost, trying to play up the odd accent his voice had taken up since he became Lithuania, and a young woman gladly told him that he was only a few blocks away.

As he got closer to the street, he started to doubt the information. The area was filled almost exclusively with strange little shops, without a single house in sight. A memory came back to him, of being dragged to some obscure clothing store by an enthusiastic Feliks, and he started to remember maybe why the street seemed so familiar to him.

His eyes passed by a window, and he caught sight of a bracelet that looked almost shockingly like the one that was used as his own Catalyst. Taking the small metal pin he'd been given to act as Feliks' Catalyst, he felt the urge to at least look like he was being genuine, and walked into the shop. At very least, he supposed, he could give his friend a gift he might actually like rather than a standard thing that was simply meant to be practical in battle.

A long time ago, he would have come in here, embarrassed that he'd be seen buying something so gaudy and pink. Now, he really didn't care what the three people actually in there thought of him. He just wished the lady punching numbers into a calculator to find the sales tax would hurry up, because he just wanted this mission to be over quickly. For good measure, he asked her to put it in a gift box, but instantly regretted it, as it just gave him more time to think about how he was basically purchasing a trap for someone he'd once called his very best friend.

After that, it only took a moment more to arrive at the address, which to his surprise, was a convenience store. Just like the kind they'd used to go into and pick up a soda or candy while Feliks would chuckle at the allegedly hideous uniforms the workers wore. Was he working here now? It was almost amusing to picture his friend working at such a place, but he couldn't bring himself to chuckle.

He sort of felt like he was going to pass out as he went into the store, and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or not when the only person in sight was not actually the one he was looking for. Instead, it was a man with spiky blond hair and an indifferent glare.

Praying it wouldn't take too long, Toris stepped up to the counter and cleared his throat. "Um, excuse me, would you happen to know if Feliks Lukasiewicz is around?"

The man sighed and said "Unfortunately, yes," before briskly walking to a door labeled "Employees Only" by a taped-on piece of copy paper. He yelled "Your break is over! Someone is here to see you!", and after a second a faint and familiar voice called back.

"Whatever! Just, like, let me finish this game first, m'kay?"

His heart stopped, and Toris was quite certain he couldn't really take any longer. Therefore, he was quite grateful when the man yelled back "You said that ten minutes ago! Come out here or I'll dock your pay!"

Feliks appeared from the door a few seconds later, looking rather annoyed. Over the pounding in his chest, Toris noted that he was not wearing a uniform of any sort, which didn't surprise him in the slightest. "You can't dock my pay, I'm, like, in charge of you!", he countered. "But fine, you made me mess up, so-"

His friend's eyes landed on him, and nothing more was said. They both pretty much stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before Feliks finally smiled and came towards him with a hug. "Oh my god, Toris? What are you doing here?"

"I was… in the neighborhood…" he choked out. "A-and I heard you worked here, so I thought I'd say hello."

Glancing over Feliks' shoulder, he saw the other worker looking at the two in confusion. "Um, do you want to maybe talk outside?", he hastily offered, fearing that he'd be found suspicious if he said anything more around a civilian.

Feliks took his hand and led him towards a back door. "Okay, I'm taking another break!", he called back to his coworker.

The place that door led to was almost creepy. It was all just ancient asphalt, eroded by cracks and weeds and dust. A faded rectangle indicated a dumpster was supposed to be there, but it seemed oddly absent. What a perfect place to be a terrible person.

"It's great to see you and everything, don't get me wrong, but, like, why are you here, really?", Feliks questioned, wasting absolutely no time in cutting to the chase. "And not trying to be nosy or anything, but where have you been? You totally dropped off the face of the earth! No one's heard anything from you in years! Did something happen?"

There was a very lengthy answer to all of those questions, but now wasn't the time to explain that. "Well, um, something came up with my family," he said, and it wasn't even a lie. "Some of my cousins, er, Eduard and Raivis and, well-"

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Feliks interrupted, much to his delight. "But I really have missed you. You couldn't have just called or something? Just to tell me you weren't dead?"

Guilt crawled down his spine. He really couldn't have. Any contact at all would have let everyone know that Feliks was a perfect hostage to use if he ever stepped out of line. "I never meant to abandon you," he promised. "Ah, I saw this and I thought you might like it."

He offered up the little box from the shop, and Feliks smiled slightly as he opened it. "This totally clashes with like, ninety percent of what I own, but thank you."

Wait, he actually noticed how much bracelets like that clashed with things? He wasn't sure if that was shocking or not, really, but it made him question why he'd even ended up with his Catalyst in the first place. "Um, welcome…", he muttered as Feliks slipped it on despite that.

Looking down, he remembered what he had to do now. Basically, he just had to catch Feliks off guard and knock him out so he could be teleported out without resistance. Meaning, he had to attack his best friend when his back was turned.

For a second, he contemplated just forgetting about the mission and continuing to see Feliks smile like that, to make up for all the ones he'd missed out on for all these years. But then he remembered how Belarus had been put to death for failing a mission, and how his own performance had been less than stellar recently. Estonia could be punished for such a mutiny as well, and no matter how wrong it was to betray his best friend, the only other option was throwing his life away.

"Really, what's wrong?", Feliks pressed, that smile evaporating. "You look like you're gonna cry."

And then, he decided that if he couldn't simply stab him in the back, the very least he could do was be honest. "I am so sorry," he apologized. "I am a terrible person in every conceivable way."

"Look, so you left without saying goodbye and show up here out of the blue, big deal! What matters now is that you're here now, right?"

"That's not what I mean," Lithuania said, and he let that burning power inside of him eat him up once more. White light faded away, and he pulled the crossbow out of the air. "I- I'm not here to chat, alright? I'm working for someone who wants to recruit you, and I'm meant to bring you to them. I am so, so sorry that I have to do this, but please, transform yourself so I don't have to fight someone without giving them a fair shot!"

Feliks laughed for a second, but then stepped towards him and took his wrist. "You're still wearing that old bracelet I gave you?", he questioned, as if that were more important than anything else going on at the moment.

"That's how these powers work," he hastily explained, drawing his hand away. "The emotions an object carries are used as a Catalyst to access our powers."

"Is that why you gave me this? So I could use powers to help this person you're working for?", Feliks questioned, and he gave a shaky nod back. "Who is this person? What did they do to you?"

He couldn't answer. Honestly, he didn't even know himself, but he knew the people that worked under whoever it was, and they were terrifying enough to keep his lips shut. "Toris, please! Whoever this person is, if they ever try to hurt you again or force you to do anything, I will make them regret it!"

Tears started to roll down Lithuania's cheeks. "No, you'd be up against something unbelievably powerful. There isn't any way to save me, so please, just give me a reason to fight you!"

His friend took a step back and shook his head. "I don't think you will," Feliks countered. "You aren't the type, you never were."

That was wrong, but at the same time, completely correct. He'd never hurt anyone if he didn't know there wasn't another way, after all. So, he shot an arrow, aiming a few feet away from his friend's head to correct the claim.

Feliks let out a gasp, and a flash of light enveloped him. Toris felt his heart stop- he'd been so hoping this had just been a mistake and he wouldn't actually have any kind of power. Once it cleared, though, he was startled by how much Feliks looked like he belonged in that terrible life. Militaristic outfit, an aura of power; he'd seen it all before. If it wasn't for the fact that he'd known him all his life, he'd look exactly like any other person he had to fight beside or against.

"This could work," Feliks muttered. "I like the cape, at least. But, like, why does it change our clothing, though?"

That was what he was questioning? Lithuania came very close to smiling at how very little his friend had changed. Still, they were both stalling and they knew it. His enemy produced a charge of flames in one hand, and looked at them, seemingly entranced by how he could produce such a thing. It seemed he was going to ask another question, but he didn't want to hear it.

Draw it back, pull the trigger, and an arrow was sent flying towards the person he was fighting, who responded oddly quickly. A burst of flame made his arrow dissolve. He knew he missed with the next one, but that was just because it was hard to look where he was aiming.

"If you're going to fight me, can you at least look at me?", his enemy demanded. It was the least Lithuania could do to oblige, so he fired another shot.

A crack filled the air, and a crimson gash appeared on Feliks' cheek. He was a bad shot either way, he supposed; he'd been aiming for his shoulder, but the fact that he'd fired upon someone he loved filled him like a wave. The wound healed freakishly quickly, to the point where it made him certain that healing rather than fire was his friend's power, but the fact it had happened still remained.

"I am so sorry," he said, but the words were hollow and meaningless. There was no way he could go through with this, but there was no way he could back out. "I- I don't-"

Feliks simply smiled as the power coursing about him disappeared in a bright flash. "Told you so," he remarked, almost mockingly. "I knew you couldn't go through with this."

"Why are you-" He couldn't fight his friend now, not if he'd already stepped down.

Taking a few steps forward, Feliks shook his head. "You disarmed yourself, idiot," he pointed out, and Toris found that he was holding onto air. Odd, he hadn't noticed his weapon vanish, but it did seem to comply to the wishes of its wielder. "Look, I don't care if we're up against the entire world, because I'm not going to let anyone make you do anything, got it? And if anyone says otherwise, I'll make them regret it."

Before he could even register what was happening, Toris found himself wrapped in a tight hug. He was smiling like he hadn't in years, and it felt like some great weight had vanished. "You don't have to do this," he half protested. "This isn't your problem. I'll face whatever I have to, I can-"

"You're my problem," Feliks corrected. "So shut up and let me hug you. It's been like, four years, and I think it's high time you stop doing some loser's dirty work, got it?"

"Okay," he agreed. As much as he didn't want to get Feliks involved, he finally felt alive- no, felt human again, and he didn't want to let that go. Whatever would become of this, Toris felt almost hopeful that he could face, because they'd face it together.

And then a sharp pain entered his side, and exited on the other. Everything fell away, reminding him that no, he couldn't just leave. That thing he'd been trapped in was too strong to escape, even in death. Black covered his vision as he collapsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN- Ha, you thought I was going to give them a happy ending? Lol, no. I don't care how much I like these two, I refuse to let them go all rebel and be happy together. So instead, let's end with Liet being attacked and blacking out and leave it there for a little while. This is a side story, after all, and I doubt we'll find out what became of this for a while, 'cause next chapter is back to the main plot. (Just a side note, I'd originally planned for the other convenience store worker to be Germany, but I realized he'd probably have recognized Liet, so I changed it to someone else. Poland is still the terrible boss Germany talked about, though, which is why he was meant to be surveillance in the first place: to keep tabs on the Doitsu.) So, thanks for reading~!


	19. White Ceiling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh, hello there, ceiling. You haven’t changed much, but everything else sure has. Eh? Alfred, who are you talking to?”
> 
> Matthew curls up on his bed and thinks deeply about life. Meanwhile, Alfred proves that he really does take after his older brother by talking to things that only he can see.

_Magitalia_   
_Chapter Seventeen- White Ceiling_

"Oh, hello ceiling, you're the same as always, aren't you?"

Matthew didn't say this out loud. That would have been weird, and honestly, he prefered the dead silence to noise at the moment, even above the sounds of his own voice echoing in his ears. But still, he was having a silent conversation with the boring off white void above him.

"You are the same exact ceiling that has been above my bed for what, fifteen years?"

It did not answer. He hugged Kumajiro closer to his chest. He'd had him for longer than he could even remember, and the faded white teddy bear still managed to provide him a familiar comfort.

"So much changes, but little tiny things stay the same, right? Like the ceiling's still the same exact white, even though everything else is completely insane. And there's still that weird little stain that Alfred refuses to tell me the origin of. Seriously, how does purple get on the ceiling? He still won't tell me, you know. Do you even know how that happened, Mister Ceiling?"

It did not answer. Apparently, with as much crazy that had happened in the past little while, the unspoken law that ceilings did not talk back remained intact.

"Really, though, if me from a year ago came in here, all he'd notice is that I moved that table and put a few new posters up. Heck, me from an hour ago wouldn't even know the difference. What… what even happened?"

It did not answer. There weren't really answers besides how Alfred had so eloquently put it, anime being real. Something something Countries, something something Superheroes, and then that freaky picture.

Matthew flipped onto his side, now staring at the wall beside his bed. How did any of this make sense? Everything his twin had told him sounded so utterly ridiculous, and yet Arthur was likely in danger from this insane scenario. They were reincarnated spirits of Countries. Like, actual countries. Those words did not make sense in that order!

But why him, though? Why, of all people, would Matthew Jones-Williams be the person who happened to be some sort of magic superhero? He could kind of get why Alfred would be one. His twin loved comic books and cartoons so much, and always had said he wanted to do something great in life, so this was basically all he'd ever dreamed of. Even Arthur, who had always loved magic and been determined to make some sort of mark upon the world was understandable. But him? He was no one, and didn't want to be extraordinary. He just wanted to live a boring life with a happy family and was pretty much just content with that.

He closed his eyes. His head hurt, and maybe if he went to sleep he'd wake up in a universe that made sense or something.

However, as so many of his attempts to nap were, he was soon called out of whatever sleepy haze he'd managed by Alfred. "Matthew! I need to talk to you about things!"

Matthew was totally prepared to brush him aside and beg him to just let him sleep and pretend that the world wasn't a giant ball of nonsequiters. But then he registered that his twin called him by his actual name rather than "Mattie" or some equally painful derivative of that. That alone told him that there was cause to worry.

"I'm listening."

"Okay, so Arthur just called, and, well, you know how I told you about the bad guy countries?"

He really didn't like where this was going, but he nodded. Wait… bad guy countries? "Uh, wait, no, actually, you didn't mention that."

"Well, they're things," Alfred eloquently explained. "And they like, captured Artie, and he's like, in some cell somewhere in one of their bases."

That sounded bad. That sounded really, really bad. "Oh my god, is he okay?"

"Well, for the most part, I guess," Alfred said with a shrug. "Said he was bored, but then the call cut off really suddenly, so I'm sorta worried."

"You should be!", Matthew practically yelled back. It was a quiet yell, sure, but it counted. "He's our brother, and he's been captured by- by- well, whatever they are!

Without warning, Alfred, while fixated upon a bit of absolutely nothing hovering above their heads, said "Come on! You're like, a thing that knows things, right? So what are they?"

Matthew was too stunned to say words. However, his brother seemed to respond to absolutely nothing rather enthusiastically. "Oh come on! I thought you said you knew things!"

"What in the name of sanity are you talking to?", Matthew questioned, giving an exasperated, airy laugh.

"Flying Mint Bunny," Alfred stated matter-of-factly, gesturing to absolutely nothing. "He's right there! You can see him, right?"

Okay, now he was sure this was some sort of elaborate prank, mass hallucination and/or fever dream. "No," he admitted. "You're just talking to nothing, Alfred."

His twin looked a bit shocked, glanced at the same patch of nothing, and then shrugged. "Okay, so you don't have magic yet. But can you not hear Flying Mint Bunny either?"

"N-no…"

Glancing at nothing again, Alfred nodded. "Okay, then. It said-" He assumed a rather high, rather terrible British accent. "'Well, that's just sort of a thing that happens! My magic isn't perceivable by mortals or Nations that haven't powered up yet, but give it time! He'll get his powers eventually!'"

Despite everything, Matthew couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you not like my Flying Mint Bunny voice, Mattie?", Alfred inquired in the same voice, continuing to crack both of them up. However, he cast another glance at the patch of nothing and gave an annoyed huff. "Fine. I'll stop. Are you taking over Artie's role as Supreme Buzz Killer?"

"Don't say things like that!", Matthew quickly berated. "Not now!"

Alfred shrugged. "Oh, whatever. But, like, speaking of that, what should we do? Go after him?"

"Well, could we?", Matthew questioned. "I mean, whoever it is that has him, they're powerful, right?"

Looking at absolutely nothing, Alfred assumed a more subdued version of the voice that was still impossible to take seriously. "'Yeah! Super powerful! And besides, they have several different bases, so even if you went after them, you wouldn't know where to go!'"

In a manner that truly made it seem like he was arguing with himself, Alfred countered "Well, do you know where they are? If so, we should just check all of them until we find him, right?"

"You're saying we should check every individual dangerous base, hoping we just happen to stumble across Arthur? That sounds like like a bad idea," Matthew said.

"'Yeah, I know where some of them are, but I agree with your brother,'" Alfred said in his Flying Mint Bunny voice. " 'For one, even if you and the other three G8 on our side all went together- heck, even if Canada unlocked his power-'" Alfred broke character for a moment to explain "That's you, by the way. 'No, even if we had a whole bunch of Countries on our side, if we went into that many dangerous places, there isn't any way everyone would make it out okay! Plus, the bases are like, all over the place! Some of them aren't even in this country, and if we just went around aimlessly, we'd be wasting time in which Arthur could be killed! Or worse!'"

How was it that his brother doing a silly voice for an invisible magic rabbit was sending nervous shudders through his body? No, really, how did he get to a point in his life where that was an actual thing that happened? Because it was happening, and making him grab for Kumajiro again. "Let's not do that, then?", he suggested.

"Okay, but we can't just do nothing!", Alfred countered. "So, what do we do?"

He seemed to be asking the, erm, invisible rabbit more than him, so Alfred answered himself after a moment in a silly voice. "'Well, why don't you get Arthur to tell you some stuff about where he is? I've been in a few of those places, maybe I'll recognize some description.'"

"What, do I text him and ask him to describe things so you can tell where he is?", Alfred questioned, seemingly sarcastically. After a moment, he turned to Matthew, and in a normal voice, reported "Yes. Apparently that is what we do."

And so Alfred texted the number Arthur had called from with pretty much just that question, along with an "oh and Mattie says hi ;)", and they waited for a response.

After it had been what felt like way too long, Alfred called the number again, but received no response. In fact, it went straight to voicemail. It did this the next several times he called, to the point where they basically gave up and decided to try to watch television and forget that their brother was in mortal danger and not answering his phone.

They ate dinner before Arthur responded. They finished the season of the show they'd been watching before Arthur responded. Heck, they'd decided it was too freaking late before Arthur responded and Matthew continued to ponder the meaning of all the insanity he called his life until sleep finally claimed him.

However, at an hour that felt like way too early to be woken up on a Saturday- okay, more like nine, but still- Alfred woke him up by pretty much yelling in his ear. Before Matthew could even register what was going on, he was looking at a phone screen, which his twin scrolled between a few blurry photos and some text.

_Arthur: Took forever to get that guard off my back. He's gone now._

A picture of what looked like a jail cell was below it, which had walls covered in what looked like Elvish script and a drawing of a unicorn.

_Arthur: This is my cell. Does it help?_

_Alfred: lol nice pony. FMB says no._

_Arthur: What?_

_Alfred: flying mint bunny_

_Arthur: So you've met him. Lovely. I'll sneak out if I can._

Below that was a picture of a dark hallway, lined with barred iron doors. Another picture followed of an eerie looking room that could only be described as a control room of some sort. A series of high-backed seats and consoles were on one side, and a glowing green tank of some fluid with tons of wires hooked up to it on the other.

_Arthur: Nearly got caught trying to get that. If that doesn't help I swear._

_Alfred: OMG FMB says he knows where that is! it's like all the way across the country but still!_

_Arthur: Lovely._

Wiping the sleep out of his eyes, Matthew gave a small yawn. "That's great. So we know where he is?"

"Yeah, but for one, he says it's like, totally dangerous!" Alfred explained. "Er, Flying Mint Bunny, I mean. And then he flew off."

He wasn't awake enough to register meaning in that. "Um, so what now?"

Alfred shoved him an empty suitcase. "We get the others and go. Duh."

An hour and a stack of syrup-drenched pancakes later, they were on the road, en route to see those three partners of Arthur's his twin had told him about. Matthew was, per norm, a bit nervous with Alfred driving. He really didn't seem to acknowledge speed limits as things that existed, to the point where he made a drive that should have been nearing an hour in length last just above thirty minutes, which was not nearly enough time to divine any meaning in his life. Honestly, he wouldn't have been surprised if they'd been pulled over, but considering some of the "shortcuts" he took were incredibly far out of the way, he also wasn't terribly surprised when they weren't.

The house they arrived at was familiar. Well, didn't Alfred say that one of the other Countries was the brother of a friend? So, he probably had been there before and just didn't quite remember it.

His twin jabbed the doorbell a dozen times before anyone came, and the boy who answered the door looked very distinctly familiar. Lovino, that had been the friend that Alfred had been talking about, and judging from the similar features and hair curl, there was no way they weren't related.

"Hello again!", he (Italy, was it?) greeted cheerfully, before adding a confused "Wait, did you say you were coming by today?"

"No," said another voice, very sharply. Behind Lovino's brother, a young man with slicked back blond hair appeared. He looked very, very familiar. Like, to the point where Matthew was positive they'd met before. No, not that they'd met, but that he'd met someone who looked like that. Alright, come to think of it, he looked a bit like a friend of Francis's he'd met once or twice. A white-haired guy with strange red eyes; there was something similar between his scowl and Gilbert's smirk. Perhaps they were brothers as well?

Well, he supposed he could ask later, as Alfred interrupted his pondering. "Well, maybe I didn't, but this is like, legit super important! I need to ask you three-"

"Two," the harsh man corrected. "Kiku isn't here at the moment."

"Where is he then? I can wait, but-"

Continuing to aim a death glare on Alfred, the harsh blond (Germany? If he wasn't Kiku or Lovino's brother, that was the only other one his twin had mentioned) said "I'm unsure when he would be able to come. He's, er, taking care of some things."

"Love things!", "Italy" clarified brightly. "See, he sort of like this one-"

"That isn't any of their business!", "Germany" scolded.

"Italy" looked confused. "Wait, 'their'? But it's just Alfred, who else are you talking about?"

Matthew felt blood rush to his cheeks and through his veins in equal measure. "Um, I'm here too!", he cried.

"Yeah, my bro Mattie came with me," Alfred explained. "Italy" seemed to look around for a solid ten seconds before he seemed to land on Matthew. "He's like, Canada or something, but he can't magic yet. I can though! I can see the freaky green rabbit thing! Isn't that cool? But, like, that's not why I'm here. Actually, I heard from Arthur and-"

"You did?", "Italy" pressed. "Is he okay?"

Alfred nodded first, but then shook his head. "Well, um, it's… complicated. This might take a while…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never intended to give Canada a chapter, but things ended up working out so that this slot couldn't be filled by my original plan for it, so Canada got a chapter. The original plan? Well, you'll all see that around chapter 20 or so. So, thanks for reading~!


	20. White Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I must come to a decision. I must produce a truth. But I still don’t know how I feel, and time seems to be running out...”
> 
> Kiku attempts to answer Heracles’s love confession. And promptly gets sidetracked by a call from Feliciano.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Eighteen- White Lies_

All he had to do was go in. All he had to do was open the car door, grab the apology gift he'd prepared, take the handful of steps to Heracles's front door, and ring the doorbell. Kiku couldn't find it in him to do any of that.

He knew he was out of time to be indecisive. He'd been hiding from his decision for nearly a full day now, and despite everything that had happened since that odd confession, he still knew he had to give his friend some form of closure.

Those flowers Heracles had sent were what had pushed things over the edge. The bouquet that had shown up at his doorstep were unmarked, but there was no one else they could have come from. Not to mention that the bouquet would have been rather odd had it not come from him. People didn't send chrysanthemums or camellias unless they'd previously been talking with a friend about Japanese flower language. Apparently, the red camellias meant "in love", and the yellow and white chrysanthemums… well, their meaning was unimportant. He knew it was just because that was what his name meant, not because of "truth".

...Well, perhaps it was truth. After all, that was what he wanted to hear, right? But what was his "truth"? He'd been too distracted by the news of death and danger last night to ponder it too much, and yet he was a breath away from being forced to say something. Accept, and what, would they be… together? Is that what he wanted? He truly didn't know. But reject, and he could hurt him, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt his dear friend.

He still had no idea what to do. The raging sea of emotion within him hadn't calmed, but he needed to do something. Before the subject had changed, Yao had been so helpful in helping him think clearer before, so surely he'd be able to help now, right? He dialed the number, but found it went straight to voicemail.

"Ah, sorry I couldn't answer you, aru! If this is Kiku calling, well, I am very sorry and I hope you'll take my advice and please, don't do anything reckless. If this is someone else, well, just ignore that first part and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

He hung the phone up. Had that recording been recent? There wasn't any other reason to apologize or advice he could remember before that, and the two hadn't spoken in quite some time before that, so what other reason would he have to address him specifically? Either way, that wasn't helping his pounding heartbeat in the slightest, so he turned to his contact list for someone he was sure would pick up.

It only rang twice before Feli's bright voice came from the other end. "Oh, Kiku! We were just talking about you! How are things going with the love confession?"

He felt very warm, despite the fact his car wasn't on and it was the middle of November. "Well, that- that is actually why I'm calling. I truly have no idea what to say, and you are rather good at these sorts of things, right?"

"Just tell him that he makes your "kokoro" go "doki-doki"! That's what those books you read always say,"

Facepalming seemed the only logical response to that. "That- that wasn't what I was asking…", he muttered, but he wasn't sure the receiver picked it up.

Faintly, he could hear another voice from Feliciano's line. "Hey, tell him about the thing!", a vaguely familiar voice boomed.

"Oh, and actually, we needed to talk to you about some things!", Feliciano quickly amended. "Like… scary things."

A sudden shift in the tone of Feliciano's voice combined with Alfred's voice earlier told him exactly what this was about. "Did you hear something new about England?", he questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Well, yeah. Turns out he got captured by the bad guys, and they're holding him in their secret base."

"Oh?"

"And it's like, super dangerous there, but Flying Mint Bunny knows where it is," Feliciano continued. "But it's like, really far from here! Like, on the other side of the country! But if we don't do something, he might get really hurt! Or worse!"

Was this… an offer to go save him? The dangers were clear (and he knew a Magical Girl was a dangerous job, given he'd seen Madoka), but Arthur was their ally. There was no way they could just leave him to die. "We should help him," he declared, and he heard a small gulp coming from the other side of the receiver.

"B-but I just told you it was dangerous!", Feliciano countered. "And you were supposed to say it was stupid, right?"

Stupid, perhaps so, but the power burning from the metal bell on his throat reminded him that it was the job given to them by their powers. "We are Nation Scouts. We must fight for justice, no matter what the cost. Isn't that what a hero is?"

From the shout of "Ha! That's what I said!", he was pretty sure that Alfred and whoever else was there was listening in on his words. He heard indistinct voices in the background, but Feliciano himself didn't say a word for quite some time.

When he finally spoke, it was oddly meekly. "You-you're right…", he agreed. "I know we should help him, but it's scary, and, well, Arthur took pictures of the place, and they looked like something out of my nightmares! Like, exactly like a place I dreamed about the other night, right down to the creepy green tank thing! Plus, his cell had a bunch of chalk marks so it looked like the place I dreamed about like, way before, and that's kind of creepy too. I don't know why, but I just know something really bad's gonna happen if we go there."

Words rang in his ears: "don't do anything reckless", his brother reminded him. Going on a mission like that was the most reckless thing he could possibly do. It was right to help their ally, but what cost would it bring? "Maybe we should think about this before making any decisions," he advised. "I'll finish up here. Then, we should talk about it."

"Okay!", Feliciano said, his voice regaining its normal cheer. "Good luck!"

A slight smile came to his lips as he hung up. This life he'd gotten caught up in was painfully dangerous, wasn't it? And the honest truth was, if he was even going to allow Heracles to consider pursuing a relationship with him, he should tell him exactly what that would mean. If he found it too dangerous to have feelings for someone destined to a life of battle, or was repulsed by the fact that he wasn't quite human, that would end that. And even if that didn't change things, he still wanted to be honest with him.

He grabbed the gift he'd made for Heracles. It was no bouquet of meaningful flowers, but he was sure he'd appreciate the thought. The cat ear headband would match the bell necklace that had given him his powers, and it would show Heracles that even if he didn't want to be involved, he was still what gave Kiku the strength to be a hero.

His hands still shook as he got out of the car, and he felt the sharp chill of wind against his red-stricken cheeks as he made his way to the front door. He still didn't know his own answer, but maybe if he could just explain what he'd been trying to say when this whole thing started, he would be relieved of the pain of having to give one.

But before he could go in, his heart was stopped by the thrusting open of the front door, and Heracles running out, pale and gasping for breath. His friend ran, not even noticing him for a moment, and Kiku was terribly confused until a man wearing a white mask followed him out.

Brandishing a curved blade (a scimitar, was that what it was called?), the masked man sneered. "Greece, running is sort of useless here," he called. "If you weren't so difficult, we could just talk this out nicely."

"Kiku!", Heracles suddenly called out, stopping running as he reached his side. "Please, I need your help! This man, he's insane! He keeps calling me 'Greece' and talking about recruiting me for something and trying to attack me with that sword and I don't know how he got into my house!"

It was unmistakable. This was another Nation Scout, one likely on the enemy's side. White mask, he even matched the description Italy had given of one that had appeared in his odd dream vision.

Without thinking, Kiku let his power envelop him. Waves crashed against his ears, and white crashed against his skin until Japan was spat back out of the bright cocoon. Reaching for the air, he summoned his katana and water covered its blade.

He knew Heracles was gaping at him, but he couldn't worry about that now. He needed to worry about their enemy, who was summoning a rush of what had to be sand and sending it his way. Kiku blocked the impact with the water and the sword, but felt it all gathering at his feet.

The enemy's blade came rushing towards him, flung like a projectile. He somehow struck it out of the air, impressing even himself. "Japan" had a lot of skill, even without much training, it seemed. Still, the blade clattered to the mass of sand rushing at his ankles and was somehow thrown back by the sand to its master.

Shock must have registered on Kiku's face, as his enemy simply laughed. "Wow, you thought that was impressive? And to think they thought you were dangerous."

All the sand seemed to coil around his legs. Kiku tried to move, but found they were planted firmly in place. How odd, that his own Mercury Coil was being mirrored and used against him. Perhaps that could work here? He swung a blade of water at the enemy's feet, but a mass of sand rushed to greet it. His attack was absorbed by it effortlessly.

He kept sending blades of water, but none of them connected. They just kept being blocked by his enemy's sand attacks. Nothing whatsoever connected, it was a useless fight, but the ragger breathing of Heracles behind him kept him aiming at nothing until he felt like he'd been drained of every drop of water he had to give.

"Are you done?", his enemy questioned, and Kiku didn't say a word. He couldn't, as masses of sand were covering his arms and he could no longer move.

"Please, leave him alone," Kiku begged. "He hasn't done anything."

Another twisted smirk came from the enemy. "And that's how we want to keep it," he retorted. He reached out to Heracles, who was standing next to Kiku, every bit as trapped as himself. "Let's bring this conversation elsewhere, so troublesome people like him won't interrupt us."

"N-no!" Heracles's cry filled the air, as did a bright light. When it faded, Kiku found all the sand had vanished, as had both his friend and his attacker.

It took him a second to process what had happened. Heracles couldn't be a Nation Scout, could he? And yet, whoever had attacked him certainly thought he was.

Was that how the enemy recruited all their members? By dragging them kicking and screaming from their lives? If so, he almost felt bad for ever raising a blade at anyone. And yet, they'd done terrible things, but essentially forced to at gunpoint.

While wondering who could be designing such a terrible group, he realized that despite his powers and blade falling away, he was still holding the cat ears he'd meant to give Heracles. Would that have ended up being the thing to activate his own powers? What, would he have given them to him and they'd both found they had powers and face everything side by side?

...He would have liked that.

Something burned deep inside of him, a loathing like none he'd ever known. The enemy, whoever they were, they operated in the most loathsome way. Belarus, hadn't she said just as much? That they'd kill her siblings and her if she failed? Everyone, even that man who had captured Heracles, likely was held under just the same threats.

Silently, he apologized to Yao. He had no choice now, he had to be reckless. The powers he had, the fact that he was still on the side of light, he had to fight. Rescue England, rescue Heracles, whatever it took to end this. It was the right thing to do, it was the path he was being led down, and he had no choice but to follow it.

As he turned away to go meet Italy and Germany and whoever else to discuss this path, he realized that he'd finally found his answer. All this time he'd spent trying to figure out how he felt about Heracles, but this burning anger was the best answer he had. Why hadn't he just said something earlier? If he'd just realized how much he loved him yesterday, he could have stopped this from happening. Or even if he'd just been honest about what he was, then he wouldn't be in the hands of darkness.

His eyes burned, and his throat did as well. "I 'like' you too," those four words could have changed their paths for the better, and they would have been true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how I said that I hate happy stories? Remember that? Well, if you still doubted that after Liet's fate, you can be assured that I am a big fan of suffering now. But, I'll go ahead and say this: I'm not entirely evil. There will be some really fluffy stuff in, oh, two chapters? Next one too, really. So, thanks for reading~!
> 
> PS, just a quick comment on the flowers Greece sent Japan, or more specifically, the yellow chrysanthemums. In Japanese flower language (aka Hanakotoba), they mean "imperial", but in non-Japanese flower language they mean "slighted love". So Greece was sort of being passive aggressive in sending them. And also, I am well aware that Turkey is not a desert nation. However, I went with sand as his power because I wanted him to counter Japan's and Greece's powers. Which should give you a hint as to what Greece's powers might be.


	21. Red String

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So my decision is to follow him if he chooses to go, and stay if he chooses to stay. ...Kiku, why are you questioning my reasoning? Was I too sentimental?”
> 
> Ludwig tries to determine whether or not he should help the others on their epic quest to save their friends from evil. He ends up pondering a much different question that leads him to an unexpected conclusion.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Nineteen- Red String_

It was rare when anyone was able to see Kiku angry. Really, Ludwig was fairly certain he could count how many times he'd truly seen him get riled up about something on one hand, and he'd known him since middle school.

This was how he knew something was wrong before his friend said a word on the subject. His concern only increased when after Alfred declared his intention to go after his brother, no matter who else decided to come with him, Kiku immediately declared his intention to do the same.

"Our enemies are despicable people," he declared. "And we are forces of light. We must do whatever it takes to end their reign of terror."

"And what makes you say that?", Ludwig pressed.

"I saw them take Heracles because they believe he had powers. There was nothing I could do to stop it alone, but it's likely they took him to the same place as England, don't you think?"

That would be the explanation, wouldn't it? Ludwig wondered if his friend had been taken right in front of him, but could tell it wasn't the time to inquire and further.

"I'm sorry, that's really terrible!", Feliciano quickly exclaimed. "But… well, I still think you need to be careful. I just have a really bad feeling about it!"

A slight voice, one that hadn't said much and honestly he'd forgotten was even there spoke up. "Eh, well, I want to come help my brother, but I don't seem to have any powers yet," Alfred's brother (Matthew, was it?) muttered. "Really, I'd just weigh you all down, and I don't think Arthur would want me to put myself in senseless danger for his sake."

"Don't worry, Mattie, I'll save him for the both of us!", Alfred loudly vowed, and Ludwig continued to dislike being associated with him. He was a complete lunatic, obnoxious, and may God help him if Alfred was the one to drag his friends into the abyss.

No one really said anything for a minute, until Kiku turned to him. "Ludwig, you haven't said what you plan to do about this."

What did he plan to do about this? Simple: nothing. He didn't personally care about any of the people they were saving enough to throw his pleasant life away.

But Feliciano still seemed unsure about the whole thing. As much as he advocated for staying out of it, he still seemed to be considering the offer to some degree. That provided another answer.

"Well, I personally think it's a bad idea, but I wouldn't allow Feliciano to go alone," he admitted. "So if he goes, I suppose I will as well."

He got a few odd looks for this, specifically from Kiku. Had it sounded a bit too sentimental, perhaps? But it was true; he could never let Feliciano do something so very reckless and, for lack of a better word, senseless alone. Such an action would defy a very crucial unspoken rule of friendship.

Feliciano, however, seemed to be made even more nervous by this. "Um, I really just don't know what I'm gonna do," he admitted. "I don't want to let anyone get hurt, but I really don't want to get hurt either."

"Why don't you sleep on it?", Ludwig suggested. "Talk it over with your brother. Whatever you decide is fine."

"That sounds good," Feliciano agreed. "We can meet up at your place tomorrow morning and talk about it more."

He very much wanted to ask why they were going to meet at his house specifically, but quickly remembered that Lovino had reacted rather poorly last time they tried to meet in the morning at his house. So begrudgingly, he agreed to this and gave Alfred the address so they could meet there.

He prepared to leave, but was stopped by Kiku on the way out.

"May I talk to you for a moment," he requested.

Ludwig was fairly certain he knew what this was going to be about. He was going to be chastised for not going along with Kiku's plan to save the friend that had been captured. "Of course. Look, I'm very sorry about what happened with Heracles, but I still-"

Lowering his voice and opening the front door for them to step outside, Kiku shook his head. "No, that is not what I'm saying. I don't question your choice, but I want to know: why is your intent to go only if Feliciano does?"

"Well, he's my friend- and that's not to say you aren't, but I don't think I could allow someone like Feli to go alone."

"Is he truly worth that much to you?", Kiku pressed. "To sacrifice your own morals to follow his?"

Some sort of exasperated sigh left Ludwig. "What- what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that our lives are changing irreversibly. Even if you stay, the fact remains that we are very close to some sort of ending. Can't you feel it? This power is changing us. Time is running out, Ludwig, and I don't want you to hesitate and make the mistake I did. So please, if my suspicions are correct, tell Feliciano how you feel before there's no one left to tell."

Kiku then calmly walked away, as if nothing had happened, leaving Ludwig incredibly confused. He told Gilbert about this conversation as soon as he got home, and was met with just a laugh.

"Really, you couldn't figure out what that could possibly mean?", Gilbert questioned mockingly.

Ludwig sighed. "No. I really can't. 'Tell Feli how I feel'? About what? Not going? But he knows that perfectly well!"

"Look, I'm going to have to tell you something I swore to never tell a soul, so you have to promise never to repeat this, okay?"

The pile of confusion grew. "I won't, but what are you getting at?"

"So, since you and Feli were probably like, five, I've had a bet with Lovino," Gilbert began. "I told him that someday our little brothers would get married, and he told me there was 'no way in hell that would ever happen'. Those exact words. So, we bet a hundred bucks on it, which sort of seemed like a really lot of money back then, and I've been waiting for you two to get together ever since."

That actually explained a lot. "That's not surprising in the slightest," said Ludwig. "But why tell me this now?"

"'Cause when you two started hanging around Kiku, one day, he asked me if you and Feli were dating, because he couldn't figure it out for himself. So I told him about the bet, and we started talking about you two and how you'd end up. We both agreed you'd end up together one way or another, but we sort of had different ways of picturing how it would happen. I said you'd be the first to confess, and he said it'd be Feli. And I made another bet about it."

"So this is all about some years old bet?", Ludwig questioned. That seemed like an awfully petty thing for Kiku to bring up- but wait, he'd bet on it happening otherwise, so unless he'd said something to Feliciano about it as well, it didn't make much sense.

Gilbert chuckled again. "Yeah, no. It's a lot more serious than that, but I was just giving that as an example. Basically, I just want you to answer me: do you like Feliciano in that way or not?"

His first instinct was to shout that he didn't. His second was to tell that no-shouting voice to can it, because it wasn't entirely correct. If he was being entirely honest, he felt something distinctly different towards Feli than he did towards anyone else. He wanted to protect him, he wanted to make him happy, he wanted to be beside him. Was that romantic love? He wasn't too sure.

"Kesese, you're blushing," Gilbert mocked in a sing-songy voice. "Look, like I said, everyone and their estranged third cousin in law can see it. Kiku was trying to tell you that all that Magical Country stuff is dangerous, and either you're gonna die or you'll come out of it different, so you'd better tell Feli that you feel gay feelings towards him soon or you'll never get the chance."

"I could never say something like that!", Ludwig countered. "Even if I did feel that way, the distinct possibility remains that he wouldn't."

With a shrug, Gilbert said "Well, what's the worst that could happen?"

"He could be weirded out by it and not want to continue being my friend. We could actually get together and have some sort of breakup that leaves us hating each other." And those were just the ones off the top of his head.

"You're being stupid," Gilbert bluntly told him. "What, is Feliciano 'Precious Cinnamon Roll That Loves You Unconditionally' Vargas going to reject you harshly? Seriously, the worst possible thing I could imagine him saying is, like," His brother closed his eyes and smiled widely while his voice rose an octave in an impression of Feliciano. "'Ve, sorry Ludi, but I don't feel the homo for you! But we can just be friends, right?'"

Ludwig felt a bit weirded out. "He doesn't sound like that," he muttered.

"And if he does feel the homo for you, and you two decide later it doesn't work, I can't see you two having any sort of nasty breakup. Even when you two fight, it never lasts for long, and you'll put up with a lot more from him than you would anyone else. Regardless of gay thoughts, you two have a strong friendship and something as stupid as a breakup wouldn't change that."

Glancing at the string bracelet around his wrist, Ludwig vaguely wondered if those powers their friendship gave him would disappear if something happened to break that bond. The strings looped around his pinky finger felt unbreakable, like the magic contained within them were stronger than the strings their power produces. And that was the strength of that friendship, that was how much he cared about Feliciano, and how much he cared back. "I suppose you're right," he admitted. "But what if by some miracle he does like me? What then?"

Gilbert gave an odd sort of smile. "Then you slay the monsters, save the princesses, and live happily ever after."

"This isn't a fairy tale," Ludwig scoffed. "People are getting hurt, people are dying!"

"Well, a lot of fairy tales are pretty messed up," Gilbert pointed out. "And an awful lot of them are German."

That was all that was really said on the subject that night. Ludwig somehow felt his convictions were right, though. He'd felt so alone when he'd been afraid Feliciano's powers were making it so he couldn't be there for him, and so relieved when his own powers mandated that wasn't the case. Even as he laid awake in bed, begging sleep to hurry up and take him away, he couldn't get the idea of it out of his mind.

Feliciano was the one he loved… He wanted to be with Feliciano… He wanted to be Feliciano's boyfriend… Those thoughts were new to him, and he was fairly certain that they wouldn't come to fruition, but he liked the sound of them, and he liked the certainty fear gave him in thinking them…

* * *

_It seemed Germany's awareness was covered in some half-formed fog. Everything was too hazy to make out, but he was acutely aware of Italy standing beside him._

_"Are you sure … this?", Germany questioned, unable to hear all of what left his mouth._

_The reply was muddled, but it sounded anguished. "... I'm not… don't wanna die … you love me back … remember … Holy Rome ... want to be with you … this is what … Please … can … just … sleep..."_

_Despite being unable to make out his words, he still responded to them by grabbing onto his hand. How, he was unsure, as he couldn't see it clear enough to do so. "... sounds lovely … have to … other … murdered in our sleep … can't hold them off …"_

_Faintly, he heard Italy's weeping, and rose his other hand to wipe away tears from eyes he couldn't see. His own voice was even harder to make out of the odd static shielding his view. "Everyth ... fine … meet again … reincar ... and … veryone el ... Romano, Prussia, Fra … ryone … ere."_

_"...on't want … lose every ... don't … lone like … fore y … apan found me again. "_

_Clarity began to reappear. He could see Italy's eyes, shining with tears. He could see the hand he was holding with a deathgrip. He could feel the fear radiating from the three people standing in front of a door. He could very clearly hear his vow: "Italy, I promise, next time everything will be fine, and I will never leave you."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbroken form of dialogue in dream:
> 
> Germany: Are you sure you're ready for this?
> 
> Italy: No, I'm not! I don't wanna die yet! Not when I know you love me back, and you remember being Holy Rome, and really I just want to be with you some more, 'cause this is what I've wanted forever! Please, Germany, can we just go back to sleep?
> 
> Germany: That sounds lovely, but no. We have to do this. The only other option is getting murdered in our sleep like my brother. We can't hold them off any longer.
> 
> Italy: *cries*
> 
> Germany: Everything will be fine. We'll meet again when we're reincarnated, and we'll meet everyone else again too. Romano, Prussia, France, everyone will be there.
> 
> Italy: I know, but I don't want to just lose everyone again. I don't want to be alone like I was before you and Japan found me again.
> 
> Germany: Italy, I promise, next time everything will be fine, and I will never leave you.


	22. Arrossire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So I’ve thought a lot about this, but after what he just said, and after that dream, I think I know what I need to do… Huh? Ludwig, you okay?”
> 
> Feliciano makes some very interesting life choices.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Twenty- Arrossire_

_Once more, Feliciano was sure he was peeking into some sort of private scene that he wasn't supposed to be able to see. It was a cell, just like the one he'd seen before, but rather than being covered in chalk, the only thing in the room was a figure lying on the floor. None of their features could be made out from the way the light was cast combined with the direction they were facing, but they seemed to be wearing pink._

_He was half sure the person was asleep, so it was a little startling when they stirred and suddenly sat up. The person looked a bit familiar; a young man with long blond hair and sharp eyes. Sort of looked like Ludwig's old boss, to be honest._

_The person looked around for a bit before sighing. "Toris, you idiot," he muttered under his breath, messing with a bracelet on his wrist absentmindedly. "How the heck did you do this before? It's boring and cold and lonely."_

_Feliciano really wanted to talk to this guy. He seemed like he needed it. "Hey, can you hear me?", he shouted, just in case it was different than last time._

_No response, so he bent down and poked the guy. His finger passed straight through his arm. Another apparition, he supposed._

_A loud creaking noise filled the room, and both of them jumped. A bright, cold sliver of light pierced the air, and a shadow appeared at the slightly open door. It was Russia, and even in the dream he radiated coldness and scariness._

_"You're Lithuania's friend, aren't you?", he questioned._

_Narrowing his eyes, the pink-clad boy yelled "Call him by his real name, won't you? It's like, rude to act like a guy who you people are torturing isn't human!"_

_Russia frowned. "Toris will be fine as long as everyone stays in line. So pretty please, don't do anything against orders, because I don't want him to die either."_

_"Oh, he's your friend, is he?", the prisoner sharply asked. "'Cause you sure seem content to keep working for the people hurting him!"_

_"That isn't how this works," Russia calmly assured him. "I am content because it keeps them from hurting him. Try to be too, okay?"_

_No response, but Russia went on. "Anyways, you seemed sad, so I brought you a present!"_

_A white stick of chalk was thrown on the cell's floor, bouncing and leaving a little powdery mark where it hit. "Now you can draw if you get bored!", Russia explained._

_The prisoner still refused to say a word. Russia gently shut the door back, saying "Well, I'll try to make sure to bring you something good for your next meal, alright?" as he did so._

_Casting a hesitant look towards the chalk, the prisoner took it and began sketching what looked like some sort of bird, muttering "How can that guy be so cheerful here?" under his breath as he did so._

_The veil Feliciano was peering through seemed to pull him away from the scene just as he noticed the bird looked almost like it was on fire._

* * *

That weird dream still stuck in Feliciano's head as he walked to Ludwig's house, still not quite awake. They'd mentioned being friends with Lithuania, right? And had something happened to him? He knew it was silly to worry about someone who'd tried to kill them, but he couldn't help it. The guy had seemed nice, especially in that dream with Belarus.

Belarus, she'd said that if she didn't attack them, then her siblings would get hurt. Was that what they were talking about with Lithuania, then? Wow, he really felt bad for them. Sure, they were trying to hurt him and his friends, but if someone threatened to hurt Lovino or Ludwig or Kiku, Feliciano knew he'd do an awful lot to keep them safe too. But would he hurt other people? He'd never really had to think about that, but he'd attacked a few people before in self defence, so he guessed he probably would.

He kept thinking about things like that and how cold it had gotten and how the leaves were fading and how it would have been really nice if Lovino would have gotten up to drive him over there until he noticed a crunching of leaves behind him. Heart skipping a few beats, he felt the cross around his neck grow hot and then envelop him with light as he looked over his shoulder. Yeah, someone was definitely following him. Specifically, Switzerland was, and he looked a bit annoyed that he'd transformed so quickly.

"Ah, good- good morning!", Feliciano stuttered out. Maybe it was like that one time in the diner with Finland and if he just played it cool like Arthur had they could just have a pleasant conversation and not fight. "Um, it's kind of... cold out, isn't it?"

"Please stop," Switzerland very flatly requested. "I'm not here to talk, and you know that as well as I."

Not daring to look back, Feliciano started to walk much faster. "But it was worth a try, right?"

His answer was a gunshot, and he felt really awake as he started running at top speed. Ludwig didn't live much further, right?

Several shots just barely missed his head. Feliciano turned a corner. This was really not how he wanted to be woken up on a Sunday, and at the back of his adrenaline-consumed mind, he wondered how any of the neighbors weren't being bothered by all this noise.

Another round of loud bangs- why did magic guns have to be so loud?- and Feliciano cursed his luck. Why why why did Switzerland have to attack him while he was walking alone? Why did he ever think walking alone would be a good idea? Ludwig lived like, two miles away! That's like, far, and also pretty much painting a target on his back! He could have just asked someone to drive him over there, but no, he didn't want to bug anyone, and he thought a walk might be fun! He even had known Ludwig was up, so he could have just asked him to come get him.

Would Switzerland ever run out of magic to shoot him with? More bullets barely missed him, and he had to glance back every once in a while to keep it that way. Feliciano continued to curse his stupidity. Why couldn't he have just learned how to drive himself? Sure, Lovino had said he was terrible at it and everyone on the entire planet would be safer if he never did it again, but he could get better, right? Right?

"Please stay still," Switzerland requested. "Really, it's getting a bit tiring."

If he wasn't so out of breath, Feliciano would have tried to think of something clever to say back. However, he kind of felt like if he opened his mouth for anything but breath he would just kind of die on the spot, and that would be really bad right now.

It felt like forever until he finally rounded the corner to Ludwig's street. Like, way too long, and a new burst of determination came over him as he realized he was close. Come on, he told himself, just hang in there a few more seconds and you'll be able to fight Switzerland off with help. His destination came into view, and he pretty much ran up the driveway faster than he ever had and began banging on the front door.

When the door opened suddenly, Feliciano nearly fell over. Ludwig looked like he was going to ask something, maybe why he was so out of breath, but his eyes widened as another shot was fired off, which Feliciano turned around and produced his flag to block.

Ludwig took a few steps outside as light enveloped him and spat him back out in uniform. Switzerland fired a few more shots, and they were promptly blocked by a rather large hunk of metal that Ludwig seemingly conjured out of nowhere. Despite being terribly out of breath, Feliciano still felt the need to point out how cool that was.

"Wow… di-didn't know you… could do… that was... cool," he wheezed out.

"Do you need to go in and get some water?", Ludwig asked. "I think I can hold this one off."

He was a heartbeat from taking him up on that offer when two guns appeared on either side of Ludwig and quickly shot light bullets at him with loud bangs. The shock made the metal shield vanish, and Ludwig stumbled a bit as he summoned a weapon- this time, a whip.

"Oi, weird gun guy!" A shout pierced the air, and everyone turned their attention to Gilbert, who had appeared at the door and was wearing an old shirt with an eagle design on it and pajama pants. Switzerland didn't seem to find this threatening, but Feliciano wasn't sure he'd ever seen him glare like that and was a bit scared himself.

"Don't shoot at my brother," Gilbert plainly stated, and with a small white flash, a sword appeared in his hand. Their enemy looked confused, but Italy raised his flag and shot a light bullet of his own while Gilbert charged him with the blade and Germany seemed to produce a swarm of needles with a crack of his whip that charged towards the target. All three seemed to hit at about the same time, and Switzerland stumbled back, a bit of blood coming from around his shoulder.

Gilbert seemed to notice the blood on the tip of his sword, and let out a disgusted cry as the sword quickly vanished. "What- what did I just do?", he frantically questioned.

"What are you?", Switzerland asked, seeming to focus more on Gilbert than his own wounds. "I've never seen someone use a weapon without transforming before."

"My big brother did something like that!", Feliciano tried to explain. "Except he kinda stole my transformation. Ludi, did he use your power?"

Ludwig shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of, no."

"Well, I must just be awesome like that!", Gilbert boasted, seemingly over the shock of having attacked someone. "So leave my little brother and his friends alone."

Switzerland took a few steps back, and his guns vanished. "I need to report this back. Please excuse me for a moment."

"Don't bother coming back," Ludwig threatened. "We prefer things quiet around here."

Switzerland seemed to laugh. "Quiet? Really? You all lost quiet the second Italy saw Flying Mint Bunny. That demon and this curse is unavoidable. Really, try to live a 'quiet' life with our forces breathing down your neck. The closest you can get is free-roaming hostage or making a passive deal that sounds nice but will end up ruining you in the end."

A sudden nervous look crossed his face. "I- I've said a bit much," he said, and quickly vanished in a flash of light.

* * *

Later that day, Alfred and Kiku showed up expecting an answer from them on whether they wanted to come or not.

Okay, that wording wasn't fair. They didn't just show up to talk about that alone. No, Kiku went out somewhere with Ludwig for a little while before they came back, and once Alfred and his brother that Feliciano could never remember existed showed up, they talked about a lot of other things before even getting to that part. Like, apparently Alfred and his brother both knew Francis, and said brother had met Gilbert before at something. And Ludwig seemed kind of nervous about something, but he never said what it was. Probably either that weird thing with Gilbert making a sword appear out of nowhere or the whole thing they were supposed to be talking about.

But the waiting was kind of killing Feliciano too. He'd thought way too hard about whether or not he'd go try to save Arthur and Heracles and whatever else, but he hadn't been able to decide about it even after talking to Lovino. But after what Switzerland said, combined with that dream from last night, he'd thought he'd decided what he needed to do.

"Um, so about the thing," he started, feeling like he was going to start shaking at any second. Everyone looked at him like they were confused. Okay, bad start. "The- the going to save them thing? Well, I think I should come with you."

Kiku seemed to almost smile. "Oh, lovely."

"Yeah, that's great, dude!", Alfred added.

"Are you sure about this?", Ludwig questioned.

Feliciano nodded. "Y-yeah. I was just thinking, and, well, these are bad people doing bad things, and they aren't going to stop if we don't do anything, right?"

"Alright, then, I'll come as well," Ludwig agreed. "I'm sure the missed schoolwork will shoot me in the foot down the line, but none of us have missed too much school, so a week of absences most likely won't do much but make us scramble a bit to make up for everything.

"Wait, that's seriously what you're worried about here?", Gilbert questioned, and then burst into laughter. "Look, I can talk to Liz 'bout this. She's one of your teachers, right? I'm sure she'll get you excused absences for world saving or whatever."

"Wait, you have superpowers too, right?", Alfred questioned, and Gilbert just sort of shrugged. "But you could, like, totally come with us!"

Casting an odd glance at the birds chirping ambience up on the other side of the room, Gilbert shook his head. "Yeah, no. Gilbird would kill me if I left her that long! And like, Ludi here can make giant metal things appear out of thin air. I can make a lame little sword and that's like, it."

"That's cool, though!", Alfred countered. "I don't even get swords! I tested it out, and I can like, get a gun and I think I can do some fire-explosion-thingy, but Mattie wouldn't let me see how cool it actually was 'cause he didn't want any property damage."

A soft voice added "Well, it seemed kind of illegal to do in a McDonalds."

Just as Feliciano was ready to tune out, Ludwig sort of tapped him on the shoulder. "Er, would you mind maybe, er, talking to me for a moment? In private?", he requested in a whisper.

"Sure!", he agreed, and Feliciano found his friend leading him outside. The sky was greyer than it had been earlier, and something about the wind said it was going to rain soon.

They sort of sat there on the tiny thing comparable to a porch for a moment before Ludwig spoke up. "You didn't have to agree to that," he stated. "No one was pressuring you into going, and if you don't want to, that's fine."

"But, well, I just thought…" How could he put his thought into words. "Well, Switzerland said that things won't be quiet as long as they're around. So, if they aren't around, maybe then things will go back to normal? And I had this dream last night where this guy who looked like your old manager and Russia were talking about how their friend would be hurt if they didn't do what the bad guys said, and, well, I don't want that."

Ludwig gave an odd sort of cough. "You- you don't want to end up having to protect someone like that?"

Feliciano nodded. "And, well, I don't want things like that to happen to anyone. But mostly I just don't want to fight anyone anymore."

"I can accept that," said Ludwig. "But, um, these dreams, are they normal? For a Nation Scout, I mean."

"Flying Mint Bunny said that England has them sometimes, but that mine are a lot more detailed, I think. Why, did you have one?"

Looking away, Ludwig said "Um, well, I suppose you could call it that. I don't remember much of it, to be honest, but last night I know I had a dream about something about all that. In it, I believe you mentioned a 'Holy Rome'. Do you know what that is?"

"Don't think so," Feliciano admitted. "Is that like the Roman Empire? With Caesar and Augustus and Jupiter and stuff?"

"I looked it up. It's something like that, I suppose. It's the Holy Roman Empire, and apparently became Germany over time." He paused for a moment. "You don't think that could be related to that weird power that Gilbert used, do you?"

"Maybe," Feliciano agreed. "I mean, it's an empire, so maybe that means he'd be strong enough to use weapons without a bracelet or necklace or anything."

Another odd cough, and Ludwig said something along the lines of "One second, I need to grab something" before sprinting back inside like Switzerland was chasing him. He returned a few minutes later clearly holding something behind his back.

"What's that?", Feliciano questioned, straining to look behind him as he sat back down.

Refusing to make eye contact, Ludwig pulled out a bouquet of flowers and practically shoved them in his face. Unsure of what to make of it, They were purple, and after a second, Feliciano recognized them as the same kind he had painted a few months ago.

"Heliotropes? Thank you, but what are they for?"

"Um, well…" Was Ludwig… blushing? That was new. "Kiku told me you liked them, and, well, I really have no idea how to say what this is, and however you feel about this is fine. I mean, whatever you say, I won't be upset, but, well, I-"

After taking a few deep breaths, Ludwig turned back to look Feliciano in the eyes, staring with a really odd intensity. "I am under the impression that I have somehow managed to- no, that's not right. You, um, are very im- no, that's not right either."

"Ludwig, are you okay?", Feliciano asked. He wasn't really sure what was going on, but his heart was pounding and he was a little worried.

"Yes. I am fine," Ludwig stated firmly. "But, well, even if we do manage to defeat the enemies targetting us, things are still changing, and there is no guarantee that things will be as they were. So, well, I thought perhaps that I could- we could, er, try dating now. J-just, you know, because we might not get another opportunity to do such a thing and I would like it if, um, well..."

What? What was he saying? Was he… asking him out? "Wait, do you mean like, _dating_ dating? Like, lovey romancey stuff?"

"Yes. As in, I am asking to be your, erm, boyfriend," Ludwig clarified. He gave another awkward cough and seemed to assume an interest in the heliotropes. "You like the flowers, don't you?", he quickly asked.

Warmth seemed to spread through Feliciano. He wasn't sure why, but hearing Ludwig say that made him really happy. It hadn't really occurred to him before, but the way he loved Ludwig wasn't any different from how he'd ever felt about a girl he liked, or even the hero that had saved him when he was little. Ludwig was really special to him, and seeing him happy made him happy. Not to mention how just being beside him made him feel stronger. That helped him get through his Grandpa's death, helped him get through any other things he was worried about, and it was helping him get through this Magical Girl thing now.

"I really like the flowers," he assured the person he undoubtedly loved most, reaching out to hold his hand. "And being boyfriends sounds nice!" The words sounded weird on his tongue, but it was a good weird. Like the kind of change that made things better and happier instead of worse.

Ludwig just sort of stared at him for a moment before one of his rare smiles overtook his face. He really was handsome when he smiled, and it always made Feliciano happy to be able to see that. So yeah, he did love him like that. "You mean that?"

"Yeah! This makes me really happy, actually."

He scooted closer to his friend- no, boyfriend, he corrected himself. Wow, that sounded weird still, but he liked it. They just sort of sat there for a minute, and it was nice. Feliciano genuinely had no idea what just happened, but he was happy, and Ludwig was happy.

The moment was broken, however, by Gilbert's cheering. "Yes! Yes yes yes! Ludi, I am so proud of you! Feli, tell your brother he owes me money."

Ludwig quickly turned to glare at the others, who had probably been watching them from the still open front door the entire time. "Shut up! This is an important moment and you don't get to ruin it for me."

"Oh, don't mind us," Kiku said dismissively. "We're all very happy for you two. Ah, Gilbert, I owe you a bit of money as well, right?"

"Wait, so you two weren't already together?", Alfred questioned. "Wow, seriously?"

"They'd probably rather be left alone," someone quietly added. "But, um, yes, very happy for you two people I barely know."

Feliciano found himself laughing. Everything felt weird and new and strange, but it didn't scare him. After all, what did he have to be afraid of beside his friends, and especially with Ludwig even closer to him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I overdo it with the GerIta? Maybe, but I was trying to make it believable for two friends awkwardly trying to ascend into datinghood. I'm not the best at romance, but I need to challenge myself, right? Also, Prussia is apparently very special! And I think his reasoning for not wanting to go was closer to "I just pretty much stabbed a guy and I'm not okay with that so I'm gonna stay in the weenie corner with Hungary and Canada, got it?" And Poland's still alive, and so is Lithuania (sort of)! Surely, we'll be seeing them soon. So, thanks for reading~!
> 
> PS, that chapter title is an Italian term for blushing, pretty much meaning "turning pink". So, yeah, still sticking with color naming convention, but I saw that phrase and decided that it was too good not to use as the title for this chapter.


	23. Silver Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Fratello, I swear I’ll be fine, okay? And Ludi, well, I’m sure my dreams are nothing to worry about…”
> 
> Feliciano and the others set off to save Arthur and possibly the world. They aren’t really sure. Also, Feli’s nightmares start to get really messed up.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Twenty One- Silver Steps_

"You sure about this?"

Lovino had asked him that about a thousand times already this morning, and it really didn't help Feliciano feel good about his choice to go. Still, they'd already packed up and they were loading Alfred's car up as they spoke, so it was a little late for second guessing.

"If you're so worried, is there any reason you can't come yourself?", Ludwig countered.

"Oh, I have several reasons, actually!", Lovino shouted back, maintaining the same scowl he'd bore whenever talking to Ludwig since they broke the news of their dating to him. "For one, I don't want to share a car with a horde of idiots for several days, not to mention Antonio would kill me for missing that much work!"

Gilbert gave a sly grin. "Oh, I think I could talk Toni around if you really wanted to…"

"...And I really have no idea what all this is about, so I'll be fine here," Lovino concluded, as if Gilbert had never butted in. He then turned back to Feliciano, and shook his head. "Just… be careful, alright?"

His brother was really worried about him, wasn't he? That sort of made Feliciano happy just knowing. "I will, fratello!", he vowed.

Lovino looked confused. "Fra-what?"

"It's Italian for brother," Kiku provided.

"Oh, it's one of your weird Italy things," he dismissed. He then turned to Ludwig for probably the thousandth time that morning. "And look, if you do anything to hurt my little brother-"

"-I wouldn't."

"-or let him get killed out there-"

"-not in a million years-"

"-or anything else, basically, well, I've always wondered how potato blood tasted."

Ludwig sighed. "Your threats are becoming less threatening and more just nonsensical."

"Don't talk back to me! I don't have to approve of you, you know!"

With a loud laugh, Gilbert put his arm around Lovino, who recoiled immediately. "Oh, come on, of course you do!", he countered.

"Hey, whose camera is this?", Alfred called from behind the car.

"Mine," Kiku quickly stated. "Please, do not break it."

A soft voice seemed to come out of nowhere and sort of scared Feliciano. "Um, Al, is my wallet still in there?"

"Uh, yeah, here." A wallet was thrown over the car and hit a blond that looked almost scarily like Alfred in the face.

That guy was called Matthew, right? Feliciano could never remember, but he put the wallet in his pocket and pulled out a phone. "Um, and do you think I should stay somewhere over here instead of going back home?", whoever it was questioned his brother. "I mean, hotels are kind of pricey, but I don't really want to be alone if any bad guys come…"

"Cut the cost and stay over at my place!", Gilbert offered.

Matthew or whoever's eyes widened. "Really? Is that alright?"

Gilbert nodded. "It's gonna be way too quiet for the awesome me without Ludi and his friends popping in and out, and we have a guest bedroom, so why not? Besides, it's kinda rude to make you stay at a hotel, right?"

"I'll do that then…"

"Yeah, me and you and Lovi can be the super awesome Team Stay-At-Home!", Gilbert exclaimed. "We'll fight evil and eat potato chips!"

"Why potato chips?", Lovino questioned. "Isn't that cannibalism for you?"

"Okay, first you were saying we ate too many potatoes and now you say that we are potatoes?", Ludwig questioned.

Lovino simply glared without a word until Kiku proclaimed "That's everything, right?"

Alfred punched the air in victory. "Yeah! Done packing! Now we can set off on our heroic quest to save Artie, Kiku's not-boyfriend, and possibly the world!"

Things got awkward for a second afterwards. Were they supposed to like, hug or something? Lovino just sort of looked at him for a second before sighing and saying "Just… don't die."

"O-okay!", Feliciano agreed.

Gilbert was a bit more enthusiastic about it. "Future brother in law, the awesome me wishes you and your party luck! Actual brother, well…"

Before Ludwig could protest, Gilbert hugged him.

"Um, bye…", someone else muttered. "Alfred, please be careful, and don't do anything stupid, alright?"

After all the awkward goodbyes, Team "Maybe-Saving-The-World" (Gilbert had called them that earlier, and Alfred had liked it) got into Alfred's car and just sort of left. And Feliciano fell asleep before they'd even gotten on the highway.

* * *

_"Italy!"_

_He could hear a voice calling out behind him on the busy street, barely audible over the roar of human life. His heart stopped. Someone had found him again. He couldn't let them catch him, he had to lose them._

_With a lurch and a flicker, he dashed forwards, darting between people with a pained limp. It was a terrible idea to try teleporting like this with so many people around, but it was the best way to save himself. Besides, with so many people around, it would be impossible to tell it was him who kept vanishing and reappearing._

_Down, down the street he stumbled, but he heard quick footsteps behind him. "Wait!", a familiar voice called, and he almost stopped when he realized who it was. He hadn't heard that voice in years, but no, it couldn't be real. The last friendly face he'd seen had been his brother, and he couldn't bring himself to think about how he'd ended up. All that blood, all that pain- he couldn't let himself think about that. He was being followed, and they had found a way to cause him even more pain. Having someone tear him to shreds while speaking in Germany's voice was about the worst thing he could imagine._

_"Please, slow down!" That voice too was familiar. How had they captured Japan's voice? They hadn't killed both his friends, had they? Well, he guessed it wouldn't have been surprising. Really, the only other Nation he could say with any certainty was still alive was Liechtenstein, and that was only because Switzerland had made her near impossible to come anywhere near without getting killed in eighteen different ways. He hadn't had any contact with anyone who would have known, but it was hard even now to imagine that anyone could ever kill Germany or Japan. They were so strong, he'd never thought anything could touch them._

_But then again, he'd thought the same about France and Spain…_

_They were still calling out to him, and the crowd was thinning out. He wanted to look back, because it sounded so much like his friends were behind him, but he couldn't stop for a single second. Those rumors of what whoever had been taking them all out was looking for, the things that Hungary had heard Romania had heard from Norway, it meant that if they caught him, something a lot worse than death would be in store._

_Flash, step, flash, step; he didn't even know where he was going, and he was practically the only one in the darkened street. A target was blaring on his back, but if he stopped long enough to flash any further than ten feet ahead of himself, he wouldn't stand a chance._

_Those voices kept telling him to stop running, but they had to be tricks. They sounded so real, but they couldn't be. Germany and Japan had no reason to be here, and really, good things just didn't happen to him anymore._

_He firmly believed that right up until water began to coil around his legs and pinned them in place. It was at first terrifying, telling him he couldn't outrun his fate, but then he remembered the countless times he'd seen the exact same attack used by Japan. It wasn't possible it really was them, was it?_

_"I am very sorry about that," Japan's voice quickly apologized as the water keeping him in place vanished._

_"But you really shouldn't teleport around like that," Germany berated, taking a few steps closer to him. "It's a waste of energy, and generally a very stupid thing to do in public." That couldn't be a trick. Only his Germany would say something like that. Shaking, Italy turned around to face his friends, who looked as real as anything. They were gaping at him, like he was some sort of ghost, and he couldn't say he wasn't doing the same._

_He was smiling for what felt like the first time in eons. "You… you really are here! I've missed you all so much!", he exclaimed happily, but they kept staring at him, like they were almost scared._

_"Italy, what happened to you?", Germany asked, pointing to the right side of his face. "All those scars… you were attacked, weren't you?"_

_Scars? Oh, how had he forgotten? That… thing that had taken Romano's life had also taken a good part of his face and torn up right leg. It'd made him sick to look at, and it'd probably healed a great deal by now, but it was probably just as jarring for them to see. "Um, sort of…", he admitted. "Well, it was more like ambushed."_

_"How did you escape?", Japan questioned, almost in awe._

_Those memories weren't something he wanted to return to, and he shook his head to shake the images loose. "I don't… please…"_

_"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Germany assured him. "But regardless of what happened, you should have come to us instead of running all the way to Poland."_

_Poland… He'd almost forgotten that's where he was, who he'd come to see, but when all this first happened he'd been so scared that all that pain would kill him. Poland's healing would have been able to help if that old friend had still been alive by the time he'd gotten here._

_"Sorry!", he hastily apologized, trying to keep his spirits up. He was so happy, he'd be safe now, but he couldn't help but cry. "I just didn't…"_

_Didn't what? Didn't want them to be hurt? Didn't want to know if they were dead? Really, he wasn't sure, but as he embraced Germany and allowed his tears to form a puddle on his shirt, he felt like his friends probably didn't care about his reasoning._

_"Don't worry," a voice he'd never been so happy to hear reassured him. "We'll stick together. We won't let them kill us."_

* * *

Feliciano woke up with tears falling heavy from his eyes. He was scared. He was absolutely terrified. That dream- no, it'd felt more like a memory- still hung in the air. Even though he was in a car in the middle of the afternoon on a highway somewhere probably a state away from his home, it still felt like he could be standing battered on a darkened street.

Trying to distract himself, he scooted closer to Ludwig, who seemed to have began reading one of the many books Kiku had brought as "research material". Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a series of black and white drawings of a cute girl in a dress holding a staff.

"What'cha reading?", he asked, and repeated the question after Ludwig looked up and slid the headphones he was wearing off.

Ludwig looked briefly at the cover of the book before looking back at him. "It's some Magical Girl manga. Kiku said it would- wait, were you crying?"

"Just had another weird dream," Feliciano muttered. "Must have been some memory from when we were actual Country things. I was scared and I was running and you and Kiku found me and I think half my face had been torn up."

He was reminded of that last part by a phantom sting on the right side of his face. "Sounds unpleasant. These dreams, do you always have them?"

It felt like it was a lot, but had it been every day since this all had began? Feliciano tried to remember, but ultimately found that wasn't true. "No. Just sometimes."

"Maybe it's just when you wear that necklace?", Ludwig suggested. "Try taking it off when you sleep, maybe that'll make a difference. I can hold it now, if you still want to sleep."

"No thanks." Even now, he still felt like his grandpa's gift protected him. It gave him powers, but that didn't change why it was precious to him. Besides, those dreams were scary, but he also didn't want to stop seeing them. The things he saw helped him, and he didn't want to lose that.

Plus, he'd been wanting to try to draw that cool fire bird thing he'd seen in that dream from the other night. In the bag next to him, which was mostly filled with Kiku's books and camera stuff, he'd jammed a nice pad of paper and some pencils. He got them out and tried to use them, despite Alfred not exactly avoiding potholes and turning rather quickly.

By the time they'd stopped for the night, he'd managed to not only draw the bird thing, but the prisoner who had originally drawn it. Ludwig, who would occasionally look over his shoulder, repeatedly insisted that there was no way that wasn't Feliks. He'd met the guy a few times himself, and he'd never seemed half as bad as Ludwig made him out to be, but yeah, either his memory had sort of combined him with the convenience store manager, or they were the same person. Given how many other Countries had already turned out to be people they knew or were connected to, it was probably been the latter.

While he was drawing, he couldn't help but marvel at the fact that everything in his life was pretty much insane. A few weeks ago, he couldn't have dreamed that he'd be sitting in a car with his two best friends and a guy he'd not even met yet travelling to go save some friends and possibly the world from evil. He also couldn't have dreamed that he would actually be dating Ludwig. That was still so crazy to think about, and he still wasn't entirely certain what had happened, but he was really happy about it. Even if nothing looked like it had changed, and they weren't acting much differently around each other than they normally did, it felt different. More meaningful. Warmer.

Even if ultimately, he was doing little more than drawing a guy he barely knew in the back of a moving vehicle, it was still one of the nicest days Feliciano could remember having in a while. No one had tried to kill them yet, no school things to worry about, and generally, everything was fine.

Eventually, the sun began to sink in the sky and Kiku suggested they start looking for somewhere to stop for the night and get dinner. And Feliciano agreed with that, because Corn Nuts and Red Vines could not sustain him for much longer. An exit advertised some places to eat, so they turned in there, and basically just kept idly suggesting places until finally they just shrugged and turned into some random hamburger place because the driver happened to think it sounded good and everyone else was too hungry to really argue.

While everyone was still trying to get all the books and pencils and Game Boys consolidated enough to get out of the car, something started to sharply tap on the windshield. It took a little longer than it should have for anyone to realize it was Flying Mint Bunny, and once they did, it still took a second for everyone to get out and ask it what it wanted.

"Hey, finally caught up to you!", it exclaimed. "Look, um, there's a bit of a long story behind this, but basically, can I come with you guys?

Alfred was the one to provide an answer. "Uh, yeah, sure. But, like, why do you need to-?"

"Agh! She's back! Hide me!", Flying Mint Bunny quickly exclaimed before proceeding to hover behind Alfred.

Feliciano's first instinct was that the creepy scarf lady (Ukraine?) had come and was going to try to attack them. It was proven wrong as a sweet looking girl with short blonde hair with a blue ribbon in it came up to them, clearly out of breath.

"Um, excuse me, but have any of you seen a strange rabbit around here?", she questioned, voice soft and hesitant. Was this really the person Flying Mint Bunny was hiding from? She seemed really nice, but she was asking for a rabbit.

No one dared say a word until Ludwig finally very simply stated "No."

She nodded and gave a sad smile. "That's good. But just a warning, if you see anything like that, run away. It's very dangerous."

"Dangerous?", Feliciano repeated, remembering how Switzerland had called it a demon the previous day. "Why's that?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she assured them. "As long as you don't see it, there's nothing to worry about. I need to be going, but it was very nice to meet you all."

She only taken a few steps past them when she turned back around. "Wait, are you all positive you haven't seen it? Because I'm sure it came over here, and it seemed to be following that car earlier, and-"

"Agh, fine!", Flying Mint Bunny exclaimed, popping out from behind Alfred. "I'm here, you caught me. Now please, Liechtenstein, I know you're mad at me, but can we please just talk things over nicely?"

The girl, "Liechtenstein", went from a pleasant smile to a glare in a half second. "My name is not Liechtenstein!", she hissed. "I am Erika Vogel, and you, little demon, took my big brother away!"

A flash of white light, and Erika had transformed into a pink dress. Another flash, and she was holding a gun not unlike the ones Switzerland had used. She pointed it at Flying Mint Bunny, still glaring. "And I won't let you lead these innocent people to their doom like you did Basch!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Liechtenstein, at last I get to use you in this story. She's one of my favorite characters, and easily Best Hetalia Girl (with a staggering amount of competition). Her characterization in this might seem a bit off from canon, but I basically took her backstory and made scrambled eggs out of it and this was the result. Also, weird flashback dream thingy! I'm growing quite fond of those. Also, I didn't mean for that part to be so long, but look, everyone's miserable in it! Isn't that great? And Italy's weird teleport thing, well, that isn't really one of his powers. I'm just putting teleportaton thing down as a general power for fully powered nations. Something Ludi and Feli and Kiku can strive to achieve someday. So, thanks for reading! -Twilight Joltik
> 
> PS, anyone here want to see PruCan? I mean, over on Fanfiction, most of my readers seem to be pretty okay with it, but I'd still like to hear what anyone here on AO3 has to say. ...Well, considering I tagged this story as being PruCan, I've sort of already decided on it, but it's not too late I guess.


	24. Golden Petals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ever since my big brother left, my life’s been nothing but running and hoping that it will change someday. And you, little demon, are the cause of it!”
> 
> Erika is approached by Flying Mint Bunny with a proposition. She responds with guns, proving that her big brother taught her well.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Twenty Two- Golden Petals_

Erika's heart pounded as she fled from the shop. She'd been so close to getting caught that time, and per norm, it was a bit of a miracle she wasn't.

Stuffed under the tatter of cloth she called a jacket was a few apples, carrots, and a loaf of bread. She always tried to take what she thought wouldn't be missed, what she thought they'd probably have enough of, what would make her seem the least selfish in taking them. Still, she cringed thinking of the countless security people who had been reprimanded or even fired because of her exploits. Stores like theirs let her live, and she repaid it by letting them suffer at her hands.

It was almost funny, when she thought about it. Liechtenstein, the Nation whose mantle she had been cursed with, was supposed to be incredibly wealthy. On the contrary, she had so little money that she had to steal just to not go hungry. Her brother hadn't been particularly well off when he'd been taken from her, and no matter how hard she tried to conserve his funds, she ran out very quickly. Even then, she tried selling things to make some cash, but soon, people realized that Basch Zwingli hadn't been seen by a soul in months, and that the little sister he'd adopted a few years prior seemed to be selling the contents of their house.

If only their curse had been something she could have explained. Why couldn't they have been ill, or under a threat that made sense, or at least something she could come up with an explanation for that wouldn't have landed her in an asylum? Because her only real options were to join the monsters who had taken her brother, be taken in by the police, accused of murdering her big brother, and sentenced to imprisonment, or keep running forever until she found a way to restore things to normal.

The third option was the one she had chosen, but only because it seemed like the only one with any hope. As she fled through the streets of a town far from the one she'd once been able to call home, she tried to remind herself of this. Hope still existed. Her big brother could maybe someday be saved, or at least come home once everything was done.

She was often checked up on by people that worked with Basch, and they'd always tell her that he was doing fine. Perhaps they were checking up on her for reasons mandated by their positions, either testing the powers of Liechtenstein or, more often than not, just reminded her that their order existed and they could smear her across the walls of whatever alley she was sleeping in that night if they wanted to, but it wasn't in the slightest discouraging. As odd as it was, those people who attacked her were the closest things she had to friends. She'd made a point to learn the proper names of each one who was willing to give them, and tried to make conversation with them to keep everyone sane.

It worked, too. Nearly everyone she fought had proved to be more than the heartless weapons they were meant to act as. Sadiq was very kind and would sometimes bring her food if he could. Katyusha was like an older sister almost, and had given her a scarf to wear just a month ago when she'd noted it was getting chilly. Tino always smiled and would ask her what sorts of things she was interested in. Just about the only one she'd met that wasn't willing to be friends was the man who wouldn't give his name as anything other than "Lithuania", insisting he was no longer human enough to use anything else, and even he had seemed like a genuinely nice person as he halfheartedly attempted to shoot arrows at her.

By the time she arrived back at the little hidden corner she was currently hiding in, behind a Mexican restaurant she could sometimes swipe extra food from, she'd noticed the sun beginning to fall in the sky. It would soon be too dark to read, so she quickly opened the history book she'd managed to take from the local library and continued on the page she'd bookmarked with a receipt that had fallen out of someone's pocket. It spoke of some countries she was unsure if she'd ever need to know about, but figured it would be much safer to at least have heard of. If nothing else, maybe knowledge of the spirits cursing her and her brother and her "friends" would help her find a way out of this life. It hadn't helped much yet, but she prayed that perhaps some passage in one of these books someday would tell her what kind of virus "Liechtenstein" was and how she could get rid of it.

She couldn't see yet how knowledge of the relationship between the countries Poland and Hungary would save her from this life, but it could. At very least, it might be an interesting topic if she ever met the poor souls infected with the powers of either of those two countries.

But as she read and ate part of her current store of food, she noticed an odd shape out of the corner of her eye. It was small, but it seemed to be flitting about right out of her view. Vaguely, she wondered if it could possibly be the demon that had told her brother he had Switzerland's powers, who tried to guide him through having powers under the guise that it wanted to help.

With the sound of a throat-clearing "ahem", Erika knew it was the little devil that called itself "Flying Mint Bunny". She put her makeshift bookmark back into her book, took another bite of her apple, and looked up.

"What do you want?", she questioned.

It zoomed towards her, painfully close to her face, and had the audacity to smile. "Oh, sweet! I'd heard you might be here. Look, I have a bit of a favor to ask of you. See, I have these friends-"

"Favor?", she repeated. "You want to ask me a favor? After you took my brother away and turned my life into… into…" She searched for the words, and finally settled for just gesturing to her surrounding. "Well, into this! And you think you can ask me for some sort of favor?"

With a gulp, the green demon gave a nervous laugh. "Look, I wasn't the one who recruited your brother. He would have awakened sooner or later. I was just trying to help him so he wouldn't get recruited, and I'm super sorry he did, okay?"

Lying as it always did. It always maintained that it had nothing to do with anything, but every other Nation-cursed individual she'd asked had told her that it had told them what they were before they were recruited. Well, all except Tino, who had refused to say a word on the subject, but Erika hadn't wanted to pry any further into his trauma. Even that only convinced her further of what her brother had warned her: "Flying Mint Bunny" wasn't to be trusted.

"You know," Erika pondered out loud. "If I were to take you out, maybe no one else would have to suffer?"

She didn't really intend to do that. Okay, maybe she did, but she doubted she could. The night Basch had been taken, she'd gone after the demon and found that not a thing she did to it could so much as bruise its tiny body. Still, it would get it moving, and she didn't want to look at it any more.

"Uh, that isn't a great idea," it protested, and started backing away slowly. Erika stood up and took a few steps towards it as it floated away. "Seriously, just hear me out! I want to help you, really!"

"Please, stop trying to help us!", she cried, and it quickly started flying away.

Despite accomplishing her goal, she ran after it all the same. It needed to know her threat was serious so he would truly leave her alone, right? So she dashed after it down the streets, down the sidewalk, and until she realized that it seemed to be eyeing and almost trailing a certain car. She couldn't make out who was in it, but if the demon had its eyes on something, she felt obligated to warn whoever it was.

She kept following it until the car turned into a hamburger restaurant, and she subsequently lost sight of the demon. Four young men, perhaps students or the sort on some sort of trip, got out of the car, and she still couldn't see it. Were they the ones it had been following? If so, she feared for them. Perhaps they hadn't been possessed by any powers yet, perhaps there was still time, so she stopped in front of them and attempted to warn them.

"Um, excuse me, but have any of you seen a strange rabbit around here?"

All four looked oddly nervous, until a serious looking blond very firmly said "No."

So they still had time to ignore the demon's call. "That's good. But just a warning, if you see anything like that, run away. It's very dangerous."

She knew she must have sounded ridiculous, but it was the only way to put it. Maybe they'd just forget about it and continue on with what they were doing. Hopefully.

But a cheerful looking guy with long brown hair that came up in a weird curl seemed too confused to forget it and questioned "Dangerous? Why's that?"

"Oh, it's nothing!", she assured them. "As long as you don't see it, there's nothing to worry about. I need to be going, so it's very nice to meet you all!"

She started to turn back, to make sure nothing and no one had gotten into her food while she was away, but realized that the scene didn't make sense. Where else would the demon have gotten off to? "Wait, are you positive you haven't seen it?", she pressed. "Because I'm sure it came over here, and it seemed to be following that car earlier, and-"

"Agh, fine!" The rabbit demon cut her off. "I'm here, you caught me. Now please, Liechtenstein, I know you're mad at me, but can we please just talk things over nicely?"

First it had the nerve to ask her for help, and now it wanted to call her by the name of the power using her body as a host? Glaring daggers, she hissed "My name is not Liechtenstein! I am Erika Vogel, and you, little demon, took my big brother away!"

The ribbon in her hair, the last remnant of her happy life, the glowing light spread from it and enveloped her body, transforming her into a form she disliked taking. "Liechtenstein" held all of her powers, but using them meant embracing the curse that had dragged her and Basch down. But if it was the only way to prove a point, she was happy to summon the gun she used as a weapon and point it at the rabbit demon. "And I won't let you lead these innocent people to their doom like you did Basch!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?", a young man with blond hair and glasses asked her. "Flying Mint Bunny isn't a demon, he's actually pretty cool!"

Erika noted that he was calling it a "he", but more importantly, that he was calling it by its name. So, it seemed she was a bit too late to save these four, but she could still tell them the truth before they too were deceived.

But first, she needed to take out the demon. A shot of her gun ran straight into it, but harmlessly bounced off. Another shot, this one using her other powers to produce a spray of golden petals slicing into it like knives, but not a single blow even produced so much as a scratch on its small, green body.

The glasses boy looked at her for a moment before calling out "Stop right there! Flying Mint Bunny is my friend, and I won't allow you to hurt him!"

Her fears that she was too late were further confirmed in a flash of light, from which the glasses guy emerged wearing a brown jacket and with a fiery aura about him. "He's no friend," she insisted. "Please, stand down. I don't want to hurt you, please."

"As if!", he countered. "I am Alfred F. Jones, the Nation Scout of America, and defender of justice! I will not stand idly by and allow you to hurt someone who's helping me and my brother!"

So he had a brother as well, one that was undoubtedly as cursed as himself. "He won't help your brother," she told him. "I truly am sorry, but he'll only bring him closer to getting recruited by those people."

"He's already been captured, though," a young man with straight, dark hair and a grave expression informed her. "Flying Mint Bunny is helping us rescue his brother."

Was that so? Erika felt the look of surprise on her face, but she refused to believe such a thing. "It's a trap," she said more to herself than them. "It has to be. That thing… Basch said it wasn't to be trusted."

"Don't you dare accuse me of doing anything to hurt England!", Flying Mint Bunny shouted back. "He's my br- friend! He's my good friend, and he's taken care of me over the past few months, and the last thing in the world I would do is use him to trick his brother and friends!"

The demon sounded so passionate, like she'd personally insulted it. She could almost for a moment believe it had a soul, but she couldn't believe that from all she'd heard, it could be anything less than a harbinger of despair.

"I-it's lying!", she insisted. "It's because of that demon that my big brother has to fight with all those other poor people to do whatever it is they're doing! I've been living on the streets for a year now, running from that group and police officials who think I killed Basch, and all because that thing told my brother that he had Switzerland's power!"

The boy with the weird hair curl seemed a bit caught off guard by this, but not for the reasons she'd thought. "Switzerland? Oh, I just fought him the other day!"

"You saw my big brother?", Erika questioned, suddenly curious. "Was he alright? Did he seem to be eating well? You didn't hurt him too much, did you?"

"Ah, well, my friend Gilbert kind of impaled him with a sword, but other than that he seemed to be doing fine!", the boy cheerily provided.

Despite everything, Erika almost took that news as relieving. She hadn't heard anything about him in weeks, and impaling really didn't seem like too bad of an injury in his line of work. "What's your name?", she asked the boy. After all, it was quite likely they'd end up fighting each other, and she wanted to be able to know who he really was.

"I'm Feliciano! Nice to meet you!" He extended his hand for her to shake. She did so gladly.

"Can I have the rest of your names as well?", she questioned. "I always like to know who the people who fight me really are."

She received a few odd looks, but she was perfectly used to that. "Um, my name is Ludwig Beilschmidt," the serious blond man stated. "I have no intention to fight you, though."

"And I am Kiku Honda," the black haired guy finished.

"It's very nice to meet all of you, but if you want to defend the demon, I won't allow it," Erika stated.

Said demon looked at her annoyedly, despite the fact she was still holding a gun to it. "Look, I'm not trying to hurt anyone, no matter what Sw- er, Basch says," it attempted to explain. She was close to firing again, but noted that it made sure to use her brother's real name. Was it actually making an effort.

"Then what are you trying to do?", she inquired. "Surely you realize you're causing more harm than good here."

"Of course I do," the demon admitted. "I've tried to save everyone important to me, but they always end up dead like Latvia or on the bad guy's side like Mama- er, Finland. And I just don't want Eng- er, Arthur to end up the same way, because back before he died the first time, he was pretty much my big brother. But if I don't try to recruit everyone and tell them what they are, they won't stand a chance and we'll never be able to defeat the bad guys and get everything back to how it should be."

Erika, like everyone else present, just sort of stared at the demon, or whatever Flying Mint Bunny was. "What are you talking about?", Ludwig questioned, breaking the silence.

"What are you?", Erika quickly added.

Looking around, it explained in a hushed voice "I'm a Nation like you guys. Okay, well, Micronation, but same thing, really. Except I never died, and the bad guys don't really know how to capture or kill me, and I really don't know if they even know what I am, but they can't do much to me so I just sort of go around and try to take them down."

"You're a Nation Scout?", Kiku questioned. "Then why are you taking that form?"

Flying Mint Bunny, whatever he was, laughed awkwardly. "See, my powers sort of got jammed up, and I haven't been able to take human form ever since," he explained. "Just, like, don't tell anyone about this. Like I said, no clue if they actually know or not. Depends how much they could get out of the Nordics."

"If this is true, then why are you telling us all this?", Erika countered. "You have no reason to trust us so much!"

"Because I want you to trust me, so I'm not gonna hide anything from you," he stated. "E-Erika, I was trying to tell you, we're going to rescue some people from the bad guys' base, but I don't think just the five of us can do it alone. I was thinking, since you want to help your brother, maybe we could find a way to do that if you came with us?"

Gaping, Erika stumbled backwards. The gun she was pointing at Flying Mint Bunny, along with the rest of that dreadful power, fell away. "Is that even possible?", she questioned.

"Dunno, but we can sure try," "Flying Mint Bunny" said.

Looking at everyone else, who all seemed as stunned as she was, she asked in a soft tone "Is that alright with you?"

"Of course!", Feliciano exclaimed. "The more the merrier, right?"

"And we definately need all the help we can get," Ludwig added. "It will certainly be dangerous, though. Are you alright with that?"

A smile came over Erika. Even if it was dangerous, even if she barely knew or trusted these people, it was hope, and that was all she had. "Yes. Of course."

"Okay! It's settled! Erika, welcome to Team Maybe Saving The World!", Alfred practically yelled.

"We need a better team name than that," Kiku flatly remarked.

"Well, let's get something to eat, and then we can talk about better names," Alfred stated before throwing the door to the hamburger shop open and marching inside. The others all followed, but Erika stayed back, as did "Flying Mint Bunny".

"If you're lying to me, or if this is a trap, I'm not going to let you go again," Erika threatened, but the rabbit or whatever it was simply shrugged.

"Fair enough."

Feliciano reopened the door. "Hey, you two coming?", he called.

Erika nodded and entered. The scent of food alone was enough to tell her something was changing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that plot twist ended up a bit earlier than I intended... I hadn't planned on revealing Flying Mint Bunny's true identity until around Chapter 29 or 30, but I figured it would work a bit better if I went ahead with it. So, here you go. Presenting what is probably the single biggest leap of logic in this story. FMB is Sealand after a transformation mishap. This was my intention from the very beginning, though. Seriously, go back and read Chapter Three, FMB literally uses one of Sealand's lines about something not being a euphemism for anything. Oh, and Liech is here too. She continues to be a precious cinnamon roll, despite her circumstances being a bit closer to before Switzerland found her in canon. Tried to throw in some proof that the other enemy countries are still perfectly nice people too. 
> 
> But, enough about that all. Next chapter's gonna be another bonus one, and it'll be from Prussia's POV. Because there's someone I want to transform soon, and I think it's high time they stop being forgotten about. Surprisingly, it's not Canada. So, thanks for reading~!


	25. Paralogue 2- Connection Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know Francis, right? But if we were both super close to him, then why had we only met once before?”
> 
> Bonus chapter! Gilbert and Matthew muse on their connections to Francis and also are forced to take Elizaveta out to lunch.

_Magitalia_

_Parallel Chapter Two- Connection Theory_

Gilbert noticed a few very interesting things about his new roommate as he somehow managed to eat and check his email at the same time. Like that he possessed some magical ability to pretty much use an entire bottle of maple syrup on a single stack of pancakes and not find it too sweet. And that he apparently found it necessary to try to email his college professors about the work he was missing in classes despite the fact that he was probably magic.

"Eh, is there a reason you're staring at me?", Matthew questioned softly.

He simply shrugged. "Well, I'm sort of wondering when you're gonna realize you used an entire thing of actual syrup on like, five pancakes."

"Oh, don't worry, I brought quite a bit," he was assured with a smile. "I order the stuff in bulk, so it isn't even that expensive, so don't worry about that either."

"But, like, that stuff's super sweet, right?", Gilbert questioned. "Does it even taste good like that?"

With a laugh, Matthew shoved his laptop aside and the plate towards Gilbert. "Well, I've grown accustomed to using enough to drown out the taste of Arthur's cooking, but I think it tastes alright. Try it if you want."

Gilbert picked up a fork and speared a small piece of the fairly soggy pancake off. It was probably sweet enough to give someone a cavity, but was actually pretty good. "Okay, I see your point," he conceded. "Overkill, sure, but I kinda like it. Maybe not quite up to my levels of awesome, but-"

"Ehe, I see you haven't changed much," Matthew chuckled.

Changed? From what? Gilbert was drawing a blank, expressed by a flat "huh?"

Matthew looked back at his computer screen, drawing it closer. "When I met you before," he explained. "Remember, at that party with Francis, you kept going on about how awesome the food was."

Vaguely, he remembered an awkward birthday dinner a year or so prior. Francis had invited some guy he didn't know who didn't say much and had seemed to have been a bit uncomfortable. The whole night had been a big blur, and he couldn't remember for the life of him what that guy had been to Francis, but very distinctly remembered his bright blue eyes. Which didn't line up with the dull violet eyes Matthew had, but maybe he was wearing contacts? Okay, he had glasses on, so that didn't make any sense, so maybe he was just remembering it wrong. "Oh, that was you? Well, I guess you looked familiar. But why were you there? You friends with Franny or something?"

"Um, well…" Matthew muttered the words and began typing something on his laptop. "Did he never mention me?"

He sounded a bit upset as he said it, like he'd expected him to have said a lot more than literally nothing at all. "Well, he's mentioned your older brother," Gilbert added. "Probably you too, but my memory's crap if I don't write it down."

"He didn't talk about me much, did he?", Matthew questioned, sounding less upset and more genuinely hurt. "I mean, I guess it's not really something you'd keep bringing up, but the guy practically raised me!"

Wait, they were really that close? But he couldn't remember Francis acknowledging that Matthew even existed before or after that dinner thing. They'd been friends for years, so why didn't he know Francis was that close to someone? He pressed further. "Really? Then why didn't I know about it? Someone like you at leasts deserves to come up when talking to his most awesome friend, right?"

Matthew sighed. "I- I don't know. Really, it'd be like you never telling one of your friends about the Vargas's, or something. He's been friends with Arthur since before our mom and Arthur's dad married, and Alfred and I always bothered him and treated him like a second big brother or something. I mean, I know that after all that with Arthur we haven't been nearly as close, and I haven't even talked to him in ages, but surely before that he'd-"

"Wait, what with Arthur?", Gilbert interrupted. "He's only mentioned the guy like, once to say he was an a-hole. What, did they break up or something?"

That last part had been a joke. Matthew didn't seem to take it as such, and nodded between bites of his syrup breakfast with some pancake. "That's actually exactly what happened. After years and years of not being subtle at all about how they felt, they started dating, and they were happy for a little while before they just sort of fell apart. Had some big fight about it, and I don't even know what it was really about, but just that they haven't spoken to each other since."

A theory struck Gilbert, and he anxiously pressed to see if it was correct. "Was it like, 'bout a year ago?"

"Eh, that sounds about right."

"So that's why he kept ditching us!", Gilbert exclaimed, proud of his deduction. So all that with him skipping out on plans randomly hadn't been because he'd said or done something that made Francis want to stop hanging out with him. Which meant Antonio had been right, and he probably owed him money for that. "God, he never even told us he had a boyfriend," he grumbled, like he was more bitter about Francis's secret keeping than his own fears being unfounded. "I mean, Toni said that was probably it, but I never bought it. Just figured he was getting tired of us."

Evidently, Matthew didn't overlook that last muttered bit. "Are you alright?", he questioned with all the concern of a person who he'd known for more than a few days.

"But who would ditch someone as cool as me, really?", Gilbert continued, trying to perpetuate the bluff.

That didn't seem to be what Matthew had thought he was worried about, though, judging by his choice of comforting words. "You know, it was sort of inevitable they'd break up. They were always at each other's throats before they got together, and they didn't stop when they were dating. I don't know a lot about your brother and his friend, but it didn't look like that was how they were."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what I told him," Gilbert assured him, but those words had planted a nagging seed at the back of his mind that doubted his push for his brother to admit how he felt was a good thing. He hadn't been worried about that before, and he still doubted that it was possible, but he was sure not grateful that idea had been planted! "I know what I'm doing. I give good advice!", he declared more to himself than Matthew.

Said Matthew continued to look at him like he was being very obvious with his internal freakout. "...Really, are you sure you're alright?"

"No, it's just weird," Gilbert muttered. He was alright, but something occurred to him. Feli and Ludi were mirroring Arthur and Francis, and that wasn't the only creepy coincidence he'd seen since all this magic stuff had started. "Like, all the magic things seem to be connected, right? Practically half the people I know are involved." Slowly, pieces clicked into place. "And I haven't heard from Francis since this all started. So, do you think he might be part of this?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Matthew admitted. "Nothing else seems to be logical, so it'd be nice if at least this one thing was a reasonable thing to assume. Do you think if we called him and asked-"

Gilbert's phone was already in his hand before Matthew had finished the sentence. "Dunno. I'll try 'im again," he declared with a smirk.

Everything would have gone beautifully had Francis actually answered. But he didn't. It just went to a default voicemail that didn't sound at all like the one his friend had used for the past while.

So he shrugged it off. "Eh, it was just a theory. We can try later." He glanced at the clock on his phone as he said this, and remembered something as he noted what it read. "Besides, it's what, eleven? I was gonna go up to Ludi's school and try to convince one of his teachers to excuse his absences or whatever. He was sort of worried about that, for some reason."

Matthew glanced back at his computer and seemed to jab F5 a few times before giving the now standing Gilbert an unamused glance. "Well, it's nice that he's thinking ahead, but how exactly are you planning to manage to convince someone that he's off saving the world?"

"Simple: I'm friends with his Home Ec teacher."

"And you think that will make them believe you about all this?"

Clearly, he'd never met Liz. "I have a sword I can show her, don't I? Besides, this probably isn't the weirdest thing I've told her."

That seemed to pique Matthew's interest enough to turn him away from the computer screen. "What would that be?"

Okay, that would require some thought. "Maybe when she actually believed me when I told her our friend Roderich had asked me out back in twelfth grade?", he mused as he grabbed the coat on the back of his desk chair and slipped it on. "No, wait, it that time Gilbird stole her phone."

A disbelieving glance was cast at the birdcage next to Gilbert's computer. "Wait, really?"

"Yep! She's a lot more awesome than she looks," Gilbert proudly bragged. Opportunities to gush about his precious bird child were not to be squandered. Normally, such things were only reserved for his diary and an uninterested Ludwig, but now someone was actually listening who seemed to care! "I've seen her trying to draw with a pen and a post-it note before. And it was adorable."

"Ehe, that's pretty cool," Matthew admitted, chuckling and smiling as his eyes followed Gilbird's pecking around. "I didn't realize canaries were that smart."

"Well, I've had her for like, ten years now." He started to feel a bit guilty as his eyes fell on the sleeping Fritz. He couldn't let his other bird feel unloved, even if it wasn't listening. "Fritz is younger, and significantly less awesome, but I love her too."

Matthew gave a confused look. "Fritz is a girl?"

"Well, yeah," Gilbert stated flatly. What else would she be? "The girl ones don't sing. A singing one would have driven Ludi insane."

Luckily, Matthew clarified the source of his confusion. "No, but you named a girl bird Fritz?"

"It's a majestic name for a majestic creature," Gilbert stated matter-of-factly as he neared the front door. "Your point is?"

"N-nothing. But, um, is it really okay for me to stay here while you're out?"

Despite being confused for a moment, Gilbert soon realized that Matthew was, in fact, not getting ready to head out. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"Is that alright? I don't want to intrude on your conversation with your friend…"

Gilbert threw the neatly folded jacket on the back of the couch to Matthew like an invitation. "Well, I'm gonna need someone else to help explain all this, cause I really don't get it."

"I don't either!", Matthew protested, but he was already standing up and putting the borrowed jacket on.

"Two wrongs make a right, I guess," Gilbert stated with a shrug.

One car trip later, and after some annoying talks with a school receptionist, the two of them were walking into a door with a name plate next to it reading "Miss Hedervary", which made Gilbert crack up a little. Elizaveta was standing over some desks with a container of cleaning wipes, muttering something that was probably a bit rude under her breath. Gilbert noted that she was still wearing the engagement ring Roderich had given her a few months ago, and he tried very hard not to feel bitter about it. Liz looked up after a moment, and assumed a smirk.

"Oh, so you can't be bothered to call in to say your brother's sick or something but you can be bothered to come all the way up here?", she sarcastically questioned.

"Look, it's a really long story," he said with a shrug. "One of those things you probably wouldn't believe if it was coming from anyone other than me."

Liz gained a curious glint in her eyes. "Oh, do tell. Does it involve Feliciano as well, because he hasn't been here either."

"Well, for one, and this isn't part of it, I finally won that bet with Lovino."

He half feared that wouldn't be enough to tell her what he was referring to. The small squeal she let out said otherwise. "Ah, took them long enough!", she exclaimed. "What happened? Which of them confessed? Please, tell me all of it!"

"Um, Gilbert, this isn't really a good time for catching up," Matthew interrupted softly.

Glancing behind him, Liz's grin turned a bit sinister. "Oh, who's he?"

"Part of the really long story, I'll get to that," Gilbert assured her.

"Well, if it's gonna take that long, why don't we discuss it over lunch?", Liz suggested. "I'm on lunch break, and I'm not going to just stand around and waste it."

"It's not that long," Gilbert admitted. "Just give me like, five minutes and I'll get there, I swear-"

"Plus there's a nice sandwich place just a block away, so we can walk," Liz continued, unfazed by his protests.

That was Liz-nese for "this is your story so you're buying", so he just shrugged and they exited from the classroom's back door into a courtyard, and from that into a parking lot. He tried to describe the events that had led to their long standing OTP of FeliLudi becoming an actual thing as they did so, but he stopped the second he realized that Matthew had stopped walking.

"Hey, you alright?", he questioned, turning back to his friend.

He saw someone standing in front of Matthew, someone who looked a little familiar but had the posture of a corpse and eyes like one too. What was the guy, Feliks something? He was Ludwig's manager, or at least had been, but he was pretty sure he remembered him being a bit less… zombie-looking.

"Are you here to attack us or something?", he questioned. No answer was given. Just a dull green stare, followed by a spiral of flame around the guy's hand.

"What are you-?" Liz turned around and turned white when she saw that person. "Feliks? What- how are you doing that? Are you okay?"

He responded with a burst of flame that came a bit too close to Gilbert's face. What was that thing he had done a few days ago when that gun guy was shooting at Ludwig? The thing that ended with him getting a sword out? 'Cause he sort of needed that now.

No, the horrified look on Elizaveta's face told him he needed something else. He didn't need to counterattack, he just needed to block the attacks and find out what was going on. So, a warm light within him covered him in hard scales of metal, forming armor around his body. That Feliks guy looked surprised, almost entranced by the transformation, but the glazed over look in his eyes returned quickly.

"What was that?", she questioned.

"Magic, I think," Matthew, who had ran back over towards them in the confusion explained.

Another burst of flame came, but Gilbert reached out to block it. Whatever this armor was, it was pretty heat resistant, at least. And despite not having a mirror on hand, he had to imagine it looked pretty awesome too.

Liz looked at their attacker for a moment before muttering "Feliks, are you even awake?", she questioned, and a bright white light started to envelop her as well, spreading from her ring finger and covering her completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what's fun about ending bonus chapters on cliffhangers? You all won't get to find out what happens or what's going on right away when I post the next chapter. No, you'll just have to wait for the next bonus chapter to find out what's going on here. Let's just say that you shouldn't be too worried about Poland, 'cause the next bonus chapter is his POV. But enough of that, we need to get back to the main plot.
> 
> I'll just leave you with confirming a suspicion any Fairy Tail fan might have regarding Prussia's powers. Meaning yes, they are based on Erza's Requip Magic. So, thanks for reading~!


	26. White Waves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ah, so, Flying Mint Bunny, or whatever your name truly is, would you mind telling us more about yourself? But, Alfred, that car trailing us, I don’t think you can dismiss it so easily.”
> 
> Kiku tries to learn more about the Token Magical Mascot Character. And then someone tries to kill them. Pretty much a normal Tuesday, then.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Twenty Three- White Waves_

Erika's presence made Kiku feel nebulously guilty. How much she'd enjoyed the terrible motel they had stayed at, how much she enjoyed those old history textbooks he'd stuck in with their stuff, how much she was genuinely grateful for Feliciano letting her borrow his clothes despite them not fitting her particularly well; it just all seemed a bit painful to watch. He was happy they could help her out, sure, but it all just felt a bit off.

Still, there was a different elephant in the room that made him not nearly as focused on how choppy their team dynamics seemed now. Or rather, there was a green rabbit in the car that he was very interested in. He'd basically just assumed it was any old Kero-chan or Luna, and desperately hoped it hadn't been a Kyubey, but it seemed that really neither was the case, and he really wanted to know more about what exactly he was.

And since they were on the road again, with Feliciano asleep on Ludwig's shoulder and Erika buried in one of said textbooks, it seemed to be a good time to interrogate it further.

"So, Flying Mint Bunny," he started, regarding the creature perched on the dashboard. "Would you mind explaining a bit more what exactly your duties as a 'micronation' consist of?"

It sort of shrugged. "Well, nothing, really. We're defenders born from patriotic feelings like you guys, but we don't have all that much to defend, so once you all started dying off and getting reincarnated, we started trying to save you all."

"'We'?", Kiku repeated. "Are there more of you?"

"Well, there were," Flying Mint Bunny explained, eyes glazed over and focused on the window. "For a while, I was travelling with my friends Seborga and Wy, and we were trying to help everyone, but Seborga started to get worried about his brothers and wanted to try and go protect them, so we split up."

As it said "brothers", it cast a pained look towards the sleeping Feliciano. The sound of flipping pages and a soft "Oh!" heralded an explanation for this. "Seborga is located in Italy, isn't it?", Erika questioned.

"There's stuff in there about micronations?", Flying Mint Bunny inquired brightly. "Let me see!"

Erika shook her head. "No, I just remember reading that," she explained, examining what seemed to be a map. "I was just trying to figure out who else you were talking about."

"Well, there were always two Nation Scouts for Italy," Flying Mint Bunny stated. "Veneziano and Romano, or North and South Italy; they were brothers, and Seborga was really close to them."

"Oh? Really?", Feliciano half yawned, proving to not actually be asleep. "I guess that's why Lovino can do that weird power stealing thing. I'm the one that isn't the Roma-whatever, right?"

Flying Mint Bunny nodded. "Never knew you two particularly well, but you're a lot more like the North one."

"So what happened to Seborga?", pressed Ludwig, who was still evidently reading the Cardcaptor Sakura manga Kiku had suggested to him the day prior. "If he was trying to protect them, why is this the first we're hearing about him?"

"Well, from what I heard, he kind of got killed before he could get very far with that," Flying Mint Bunny explained, sounding a bit too blunt for discussing a dead friend. "Wy was with him too, and I don't know where she ended up, but I haven't seen her since."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Feliciano sit up and lean forward, elbows resting on the center console. "So this guy would have been my other brother?", he said rather softly. "What was he like?"

"I'm sure you would have liked him, but you'll meet him someday!", Flying Mint Bunny affirmed. "I mean, he's probably been reincarnated already, since he died so long ago!"

The chipper tone sounded forced and somewhat pained, so Kiku decided to change the topic to something else burning in his mind. "Ah, so, I'd been meaning to ask, what is your actual name? Surely there isn't a 'Principality of Flying Mint Bunny'."

Alfred laughed loudly at that. "That would be super cool, though!", he added. "Seriously, you should rename your place that."

"What's wrong with 'Sealand'?", the green rabbit protested. "I mean, it's my name, and it's a good name, and it's definitely better than 'Flying Mint Bunny'!"

Erika giggled. "So, does that mean you're the spirit of a boat?"

"The Principality of Sealand is not a boat, actually!", "Sealand" protested. "It's an abandoned sea fort! There is a difference!"

"I just find it a bit underwhelming that you're supposed to be some magical guide and you aren't even a proper country," Erika muttered.

Apparently, this was some sort of trigger word for Sealand, as he started hovering in Erika's face and yelling "Well excuse me, miss 'my flag got confused with Haiti's at the Olympics'! I haven't really had time to try to get other Countries to recognize me since they've been, you know, dead and all!"

His shouts were ignored, so after a bit more of that, he floated back to the dashboard, sitting there and glaring at Erika.

Kiku was prepared to boot up the old Game Boy Advanced he'd brought again and continue to level up his Marshtomp and Skitty, but Alfred's constant glancing towards the rear view mirror stopped him. He looked backwards out of curiosity, and saw that a rather old looking car with paint so chipped and weathered he wasn't sure if he should call it red or pink.

More alarming, however, was the faces he could see faintly through the other car's window. The driver was very clearly Russia, and the passengers Ukraine and someone else he couldn't quite see.

"Some jerk's tailgating me," muttered Alfred. Kiku attempted to warn him of who they were, but the blond cut him off with a sideways smirk, and taunting threat. "Maybe I should just slam the breaks and let them slam into me, see how they like tha-"

His threat was cut off by a sudden flutter in the rear view mirror, of scarves exactly like the ones that Ukraine had attacked them with when they'd first learned of Feliciano's powers. Two sets seemed to extend: one from the open front passenger window of the car trailing them and the other from the same car's back windows. They extended into the air and wrapped around their own car, blocking the windows from light.

"Ah, what do I do?", Alfred frantically questioned.

"Hit the gas, and if that doesn't work, I'll open a window and cut them up myself," Ludwig directed.

The screeching of tires indicated the orders were followed, but no forward motion seemed to occur. If anything, the car was going slower, and then stopping all together. So Ludwig rolled down his window as white light burst around him, and silver needles rushed at the oncoming scarves.

That, however, must have not done much, as despite the fact the scarves became less thick, it seemed that a series of wires not unlike those Germany used wrapped up the car instead.

"Okay, let me try!", Alfred offered, not bothering with the gas anymore. He transformed as well, and rolled down his own window to assault the wires and scarves with a series of small explosions. It must have broken the ties enough, because he was able to push open his door and exit the vehicle.

Despite being unsure of what exactly he was doing, Kiku climbed over the console to follow him, and found that Alfred had gotten out his own gun and was attempting to shoot at the enemy car while its passengers got out. The bullets bounced off far too harmlessly for a car of that make, and once Alfred finally realized how useless his attacks were on the metal, didn't do too much more to Russia.

"What's your problem, anyways?", Alfred questioned loudly. "We're just driving, is that a problem?"

Russia gave a broad smile as he opened the left-back seat door. "Well, your friends have given mine a lot of trouble," he explained calmly. "It's your fault Natalya and Toris aren't here, so my sister, my friend, and I are here to make sure you don't hurt anyone else. Right, China?"

"China?", Kiku repeated. Wasn't that what Yao had said he was? No, he had to have heard wrong, there was no way that Yao could be involved with the enemies.

The wires receded as Kiku's brother got out of the back seat. He was clearly transformed, wearing a uniform and with what had to be the strangest transformation trinket Kiku could possibly imagine strapped to his back. Despite how his heart was racing, as he transformed without thinking, Kiku wanted to laugh. He'd thought his cat bell was the most embarrassing thing possible to draw power from, but a stuffed panda had to be a thousand times worse.

That didn't change the fact that his brother was pretty clearly on the enemies' side, though, and that was enough to restrict his chuckles. "How did you get involved in all of this?", Kiku questioned as calmly as he could.

Yao wouldn't meet his gaze. "They told me if I didn't help them track you they'd kill both of us," he stated plainly. "Though I almost doubt they won't do that anyways."

"Who said that?", Kiku pressed. "Who's threatening this?"

The only answer he got was Yao summoning a weapon almost identical to Germany's whip. "Fight me," he urged almost robotically. "We have to… there isn't another way."

There was absolutely no way he would fight his brother, but there was someone else he was more than happy to fight. A current of water seemed to come from his very heart, surging like a tidal wave. That energy was sent straight towards Russia, who was merely watching the scene with interest.

It knocked him back, but all the water around him quickly turned to ice and shot straight back towards Kiku and Alfred. Yao mirrored the ice attack exactly, the whip morphing into a metal staff that looked more like a sink's faucet than a weapon. The chill almost burned, but America removed it with a quick series of fiery booms.

"What's going on?", Ludwig questioned from somewhere behind them.

"Eh? Is that Yao?", Feliciano added.

"Be careful!", Sealand warned. "You're fighting two really dangerous countries! Russia's a really experienced G8, and China's just as powerful due to his skills."

Those skills must have been imitation, as just as America's blasts cleared, Yao replicated them, the faucet turning into a pistol. It was quite clear he wasn't aiming to kill, or even injure, but merely provoking them into attacking further.

"What are you doing?", Kiku demanded, water rushing in his ears from no source but himself. "Please, just let Yao be and we'll be on our way!"

Russia shook his head, and a violet aura seemed to pierce the air, beckoning the storm of power in Kiku's soul to unleash itself. "But don't you see? We need you to show us all of what you're capable of. It's the only way to find the HRE, and that's much easier if you have a reason to want to harm me."

Rage and salt and storms throbbed within that abstract concept that held Japan's powers. It was exactly what they wanted to see, but if he truly gave it his all, would that make them leave his brother be?

"I will gladly provide that," he coolly stated as raindrops began to drip from the blade he was barely aware he had drawn. He let a flurry of cuts come forth, each of which Russia dodged with a simple step back. The water escalated into fog and lightning, each pulsing from the metal sphere resting against his throat. If he was truly to put his heart into this, would it save Heracles too?

Without thinking, without feeling, his power kept leaking out. Japan was unleashing every last drop of water he had onto a target he was barely aiming for, and over the rushing water, he could hear someone pleading with him to stop, telling him that he'd hurt himself if he kept up this pace.

He couldn't have stopped if he wanted to, though. Energy was flooding out of his body in white waves and yellow bolts. It swirled around him like a tornado, biting him like wind, pummeling like hail, and he was sure his own body was receiving the brunt of the attack. Everything started to feel very faint, and the great power started to ebb away, his attacks becoming less and less spectacular.

Kiku felt all the water falling away, and was barely aware of his consciousness doing the same. The last thing he could remember was Russia chuckling, asking "Now, would anyone else like to try?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, let me just quickly explain. One of Russia's powers is a sort of power-interference that can either make another Nation Scout either use far more of their power than they should, to the point of complete exhaustion or not be able to use it well at all. Think Ty Lee's anti-bending chi-blocking stuff from Avatar, but, like, the opposite of that. Also, China's not really evil but sort of being coerced into helping them? Yeah, sorry China fans. It had to happen. But thanks to Amethyst for the FABULOUS idea to make a stuffed panda his Catalyst. Also, the fact that he's paired with Russia means nothing, though. Just that Russia happened to want revenge for his little sister and China is convenient to help provoke Japan. Not RoChu, just happening to be working together. And by working together, I of course mean being forced via threats to loved ones to attack others together. Sorry to Seborga fans too, but it's a bit early to apologize for Wy. She is my favorite of the Micronations, after all. So, thanks for reading! -Twilight Joltik


	27. Blood-Stained Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Our destination might be one way, but it doesn’t matter, so long as we get those people off our tail. But, ah, Kiku, you’re awake...”
> 
> Ludwig attempts to give directions during the least exciting car chase possible.

_Magitalia_

_Chapter Twenty Four- Blood-Stained Walls_

When Kiku's body hit the asphalt, surrounded by a receding puddle of the water he'd nearly killed everyone with, it had been absolutely terrifying. Russia's laugh and innocent question of if anyone wanted to go next didn't help ease things, nor did the absolute mortification on Yao's face as he seemed to realize what he'd done to his brother. Alfred, for once, actually was helpful and scooped Kiku off the ground before anything else could happen and dashed in front of them, turning back to Russia and sneering.

"Look, we'd love to, but we've gotta run," he taunted, and that seemed to be a signal to fall back. Ludwig would have objected, but he knew perfectly well this was a battle they were better off running from, and honestly, he was just glad that Alfred was actually being reasonable for once.

He grabbed Feliciano's hand, tugging him away from his seemingly blank stares at the scene. Oddly, as they fled back into the car, their enemies made no attempt to stop them. Were they being allowed to leave? The whole thing filled him with an odd dread, but it wasn't the time to dwell on such things.

"Idea!", the green rabbit that called himself Sealand exclaimed as they got back into the car, which had been pushed forward a bit by Kiku's storm. "Feli, Erika, you guys have projectiles, right? So, like, you get the back windows down and shoot at them out of it, got it?"

"What gives you the idea they're following us?", Erika countered, glancing backwards. "I mean, they look like they're letting us-"

She was cut off by a slamming door and revving engine, both caused by Russia. She stopped herself there and followed the rabbit's commands. Getting in the vehicle and looking ahead, Ludwig could only think of how a straight, open path could only make them an easy target, and quickly grabbed a road atlas out of Kiku's book bag and instead got into the passenger seat.

"We need to avoid the main roads," Ludwig directed, flipping desperately through the pages to find the small highway they were on. "Alfred, as soon as there's a place to turn off, do so. I'll try to make sure we don't get too off track, but let's try to take a route they won't be able to follow."

Alfred turned the keys and gave a nod. "Got it. I'll slam on the gas too!"

The car sped off, breaking the speed limit by about twenty miles per hour before Erika cried out "Please, don't do that! If we get caught speeding, well, um, that would be bad."

A glance at the indication that the gas tank was half-empty provided Ludwig with another point. "Not to mention we'll have to stop for gas eventually, and going that quickly will only make it happen faster."

With a groan and mutter of "Car chases are supposed to be cool, you know," Alfred slowed down to a decently fast cruising speed.

A rather agonizing period followed, in which literally nothing interesting happened.

Despite that, it was still immensely stressful. Italy and Liechtenstein would shoot for short bursts before getting tired out and de-transforming for a moment before trying again. He would attempt to tell Alfred where to go on roads neither of them had the slightest clue the destination of. Kiku remained unconscious in the back seat, and other than the fact that he was breathing fine, generally just made Ludwig stress more about if everything would be alright. Every time they would lose the beat-up car trailing them, they'd have to stop for gas, or they'd take a wrong turn, or something would happen and they'd catch back up.

The previous day, Ludwig had been annoyed at how little there was to do. He had come to accomplish a goal, and as little as he cared about that goal, he wanted to at least feel as if he was making progress towards it. And now, he certainly felt like they were getting things done, but all things considered, he would have much rather been reading that silly manga in the back seat with Feliciano curled up next to him.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of looking at a map and yelling at the idiot in the driver's seat, and by which time the sun was already extremely low in the sky, Kiku finally stirred and let out a groan of pain before looking about in confusion. "What happened?", he asked, still sounding rather dazed. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Sort of," Feliciano explained. "I mean, you sort of passed out in the middle of the street, but I guess you can call that falling asleep, right?"

Kiku only seemed more confused. "E-excuse me? How did that happen? I don't remember getting out of the car."

"You don't?", Alfred questioned, making a movement like he meant to turn back before realizing the dirt road they were on was too twisty to do such a thing. "But, like, you were super awesome! Russia attacked you and then you basically made a hurricane in the middle of a highway! How could you forget that?"

After a few confused blinks, Kiku nodded. "I suppose that might explain why everything hurts," he muttered. "But Russia attacked us? While we were driving? Why can I not recall that?"

"You overloaded your magic," huffed Sealand. "I warned you, but you kept going, and you went way over what your human body can handle processing. Denmark used to do that all the time so, like, if you have some black spots in your memory or run a high fever and feel like crap, it's your own fault."

"But why would I do such a thing?", Kiku questioned. "I should have known better than to test my limits, right?"

There was a simple explanation, but the pained silence, only punctuated by Erika's shots out the window, clearly stated that no one wanted to tell Kiku why he'd been willing to go to such extremes. Ludwig certainly didn't know how to explain to someone that they'd forgotten being forced to fight against their own brother.

"It was Russia's power!", Sealand explained, much to everyone's relief. "He can make other Countries overload their power! He can block it too, and that, well, that's why I'm a tiny green invisible magic thing, but hey, I mean, well, I don't get how it lasts this long, but I never knew much about all this magic stuff anyways."

Erika deactivated her powers and looked at Sealand before snickering. "So you're admitting you don't know what you're doing?"

"I never denied it!", he countered.

They probably would have gone at it if Russia hadn't chosen that moment to speed up, making Feliciano jump and start shooting again. Looking backwards, Kiku seemed for a moment like he was going to ask what was going on before simply shaking his head and looking back forward. "Ah, so, if we're being chased, do I need to do anything to help?"

"Not really," Alfred said. "We've got it covered. It's sort of getting late, though, so if you could maybe grab a Coke out of the snacks back there for me, that'd be cool."

A few seconds later, Kiku handed a can to the driver, who shoved it towards Ludwig. "Open this for me," he ordered. Ludwig did so with copious amounts of chagrin, handed it back to him, and looked back at the tangled road maps as he pretty much downed the thing.

"Okay, so, if I start to fall asleep, just throw another one of those at me," Alfred directed no one in particular.

"I can switch with you next time we stop," Ludwig offered.

"Or, actually, anyone know where this is?" Sealand asked.

Glancing at the map again, Ludwig muttered "Well, we just passed Bellville- or was that Mapleton?- so we should be somewhere around Mayview."

"Awesome!", the rabbit exclaimed. "I know where that is! There's a place we should be able to stop for the night up ahead."

Alfred glanced in the rear-view mirror. "Seriously? They're like, right on us,"

"It'll be fine, and I don't think they'd find it," Sealand explained. "This is like, right around where Estonia and Latvia lived, so it shouldn't be a big deal to stop there. And it's like, out of the way, so if we can lose them, it shouldn't be hard for them to overlook us."

The shots in the back seat became more energetic and frequent. Russia's car began to fall back a bit. "And if they don't?", Erika countered, casting a sideways glare at the rabbit.

"Then we run again."

"Fair enough."

They increased to a speed that was hardly safe, let alone legal, and Alfred followed the directions of a green rabbit down a rather winding path that seemed like no one had gone down in ages, much like they'd been doing for the past agonizing hours. The entire thing was nerve wracking, and maybe a terrible idea, but the prospect of not staying up all night to continue like this was tempting enough for him to ignore that.

A very overgrown house appeared in front of them after a moment, and Ludwig stopped doubting that Sealand was right about it being hard to find. Really, it would have surprised him if anyone at all knew such a place existed, given how many turns had to be made in such an unpopulated area to find it.

"Isn't there anywhere else we can stay?", Feliciano questioned as they got out. "This place looks creepy."

"It's actually really nice on the inside," Sealand assured them, hovering out front. "Sure, no one's lived here for a while, but it's probably just a little dusty."

Ludwig felt compelled to fall back and allow Feliciano to reach for his hand. It was part of that unspoken contract he still couldn't believe had been forged between them that he'd protect him, even if it was from something a simple as an ivy-ridden house.

Those fears seemed a lot less simple when Ludwig actually saw what was inside the place. Only faint light illuminated it, but it was clear that the previous inhabitants hadn't left without a fight. The entire thing looked like a battle scene, with holes blown through the wall and furniture turned to broken splinters and a crimson splatter upon the wallpaper.

"Can I stay in the car?", Feliciano begged, tugging on Ludwig's hand. "I don't wanna sleep in a place like this."

"It's better than getting chased around all night," Erika offered. "And I'm sure the other rooms are nicer, but it's fine if you don't want to stay here."

Another, unfamiliar voice filled the air. "No, the other rooms are just as bad," someone said.

Feliciano practically jumped into Ludwig, who looked around to find the source of the voice. "Show yourself!", Kiku ordered.

A blond man wearing glasses and a militaristic uniform stepped out of the shadows. "I'm very sorry this place is such a mess," he apologized. "I wanted to clean, but Mister Russia said it would add to the atmosphere if I left it like it was."

"Estonia!", Sealand cried out. "Um, is this a trap, 'cause if so, I'd like to remind you that I sort of stopped your little brother from dying that one time and I helped you and Toris a lot and also please just let us leave and we won't bug you."

"I would, but Lithuania is on death row as is," Estonia stated. "So very sorry about all of this."

A lattice of scarves filled the air, surely the work of an unseen Ukraine and possibly China imitating it as well. The bloodied, broken room was inescapable, save for the front exit, which Russia had just entered from.

"It was a good idea to chase them here," Russia stated, holding something that looked a bit too much like a sink pipe in his hand. "Nice, easy place to find out who the HRE is. Now, who should I test first?"

He had said something like that when he'd attacked Kiku earlier, but with Feliciano only feet from him, it seemed like the threat was meant very specifically for him. There was only one answer to this.

"Don't even think about it!", Ludwig cried, shoving Feliciano aside and charging Russia himself in a burst of light. His weapon appeared in his hand, turning to a poleaxe that would have rammed the enemy's stomach if it hadn't been knocked aside by a spear.

Estonia held a weapon that looked more like a giant pencil than an actual weapon, but it seemed to serve the same purpose. Or, at least enough to stop him from reaching Russia. "Thank you," Russia coldly muttered. "I'll finish this up."

Violet flames seemed to dance in the air, reaching into Ludwig and turning his insides cold. It felt like needles were ripping into him, and they seemed to be ripping into the air, marking the already damaged walls with fine specks of silver.

The weapon in his hand kept changing, from a lance to an axe to a sword and back again. It melted and reformed, and without thinking, he seemed to force a metallic crystal out of the ground.

This broke Russia's grip enough to stop the power drain, but he still felt all wrong. The metal crystal faded into light, but instead of his power falling away, more light enveloped Ludwig's form. It faded, leaving something framing his eyes and flowing cloth across his skin.

Everyone simply stared at whatever had transpired, but Feliciano was the only one to actually say anything about it. "You- you're- no, it can't be, right?"

Out of the shattered mirror on the wall, Ludwig could make out that he was wearing a uniform that looked less like anything he'd seen a Nation Scout wear before and more like one of Feliciano's paintings. No, the more he thought about it, the white mask and black hat were from one of those paintings. It was exactly what that hero he'd sworn had saved him when they were young wore. Why would he have taken that form, he wondered.

Russia, however, broke him out his pondering before he could even come up with the slightest bit of reasoning with a creepy chuckle. "It seems my little sister did fight a real person," he exclaimed almost cheerfully. "I wonder if they'll let her go now that they know a Holy Rome exists?"

The power within Ludwig felt different with this new form. The weapon he summoned was a spear, but he wasn't sure he could will it to change like he could before. Turning to Russia, he tried to ram him with it, but was stopped by an icy blast backwards.

Four white flashes came from the others. Alfred rushed in, producing his pistol and shooting at Estonia, who narrowly avoided the bullets. Feliciano also ran towards him to help, but stopped briefly in his tracks as a red flash appeared in his eyes. He then looked at Alfred and shook his head. "No, stop! Don't shoot there, it'll make that lamp fall over and hit Kiku!", he cried, and Alfred stopped moving, looking at him oddly.

"What makes you think that?", Ludwig questioned, trying to think it out how the only lamp left standing would hit Kiku from a few feet away, before realizing that it could probably occur from a shot near Estonia's hand.

Feliciano shook his head. "Um, it just sort of flashed up. I don't really know…"

"Well, don't worry about that," Russia assured him with an odd grin. "We've got what we need here, so we'll be seeing you soon, right?"

The scarves boxing them in fell away, and both Russia and Estonia vanished in bright flashes.

A tight hug enveloped Ludwig as his powers fell away. "That was so cool!", Feli gushed. "I should have known that hero that saved me was you! I mean, you're magic and stuff, and who else would have protected me, right?"

"I- um, well, it's possible that I just took the form by accident," Ludwig countered, feeling heat rushing to his cheeks. "I mean, I have no recollection of that, but I mean, it's, um, possible."

"I guess the 'HRE' they were looking for is you, then?", Erika questioned.

Ludwig nodded. They'd called him "Holy Rome", after all. But then, why did they only leave after Feliciano's vision?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Germany is the Holy Rome everyone's been talking about. Well, that wasn't a surprise at all. But Italy's vision thing is useful for more than just dreams, and that might be. And Estonia's weapon is based on a pencil because he's Himapapa's avatar, and that's the only reason. Speaking of which, I actually did copious amounts of research to make sure Latvia's blood would have still been all over the walls after four years, and that beats Prussian food for "weirdest thing I have had to research for writing". Also, nice job not telling Japan what China did while his memory was fuzzy. That won't come back to bite anyone later. Yep, definitely not. Well, thanks for reading! -Twilight Joltik


	28. Paralogue 3- Firebird Controller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Agh, this place is totally boring! Like, can’t I just bust out of this stupid cell and find Toris and run? Wait… who is that?”
> 
> Bonus chapter! Feliks performs a favor for an unexpected visitor.

_Magitalia_

_Parallel Chapter Three- Firebird Controller_

Several white chalk phoenixes covered the floor. It was all Feliks could think to draw. With that "Catalyst" Toris had given him, he'd been able to test exactly what he could do. Brilliant crimson flames could fill the air from his powers, but if he overdid it, it would leave him tired. It also seemed that the scrapes and bruises the affair that had left him rotting away in the dark cell vanished instantaneously the second he used the powers, but he wasn't exactly in the mood to test the extents of that healing. Fire and healing powers, along with the "reincarnation" the creepy man who called himself "Russia" had tried to explain, filled his head with images of the flaming bird of legend.

There were only so many phoenixes one could draw before attaining the status of Totally and Completely Bored, though. He really wanted nothing more than to get out of that cell, to go find wherever they'd locked up Toris and return to their initial plan of not being bossed around by complete lunatics. Then they could get back to normal, catch up, make up for the four years his only friend had been MIA. Maybe all that would make up for how much he'd missed having someone to really talk to.

Which sounded nice and simple in theory, but Feliks had yet to be able to find a way to actually leave, making the thing he'd wanted for so long both closer than it had been in ages and more unattainable than ever. The tiny little window was way too small to crawl through, even if he could blast through the iron bars covering it. The door was similarly impervious, despite his best efforts with a steady stream of flame. The walls were no better, and he'd attempted all four of them. Even the ceiling and floor were impossible to crack, and he'd even tried using the plastic spoon he'd been given to eat the absolutely terrible food with.

By the time it seemed Russia or whoever finally came back to give him more crap food or another piece of chalk or whatever meaningless consolation it was, he had already tried to plan a way to escape using that. He could just blast whoever it was while the door was open, use their keys, and try every cell until he found Toris, and that would work. Yeah, he might be caught before he could do that, but whatever punishment that led to had to be better than complete boredom, right?

So, he kind of felt terrible when he summoned his powers in a flash of raging light the next time the door cracked open just to find it wasn't someone who wanted to attack him. Rather, it was Toris, smiling slightly and looking a whole lot less bloody and bullet-filled than the last time he'd seen him.

"Did I scare you?", he asked in a voice that sounded odd and echoey, in a way that was almost unnerving.

Feliks stood up and felt a smile coming on himself. "I'm like, fine, alright?", he assured his dearest friend. "You here to get me out?"

Toris shook his head. "Unfortunately not," he said, voice still sounding incredibly wrong, but Feliks couldn't bring himself to question it. He'd sounded weird when he'd come to meet him at the convenience store too, and maybe he was just remembering how that had sounded wrong.

"Well, we're getting out of here anyways," Feliks affirmed. He was met with a confused look. "Oh my god, come on! I totally meant what I said back there. I don't give a damn what or who wants to stop us, but I'm not letting you be the puppet of these creeps anymore, and I'm not gonna be one either, got it?"

An odd sigh came from his friend, who stepped back. "Please, this isn't exactly what I-"

Grabbing Toris's hand shut him up pretty well. "Look, I don't care what you say, but that creep said you're gonna get hurt if you stay here, so we've gotta run now!"

"I'm sure it will be fine," Toris assured him, casting an odd glance to his side. "I only need you to listen to me, so if you'd give me a moment of your time, my dear, then we might get this resolved."

"My dear?" That was new. Had they done something to his head? "Like, what's up with you?", Feliks pressed. "You're acting all weird."

Something struck him when Toris looked to the side again, odd guilt flashing across his face. In a sudden burst, he took his friend's other hand. They felt different than he thought they should have, but then again, they hadn't held hands since grade school, really. "Is this 'cause you tried to attack me back there?", he questioned, burying his gaze into Toris's so he couldn't look away. "That isn't a thing you'd actually do, you know. That wasn't you. The Toris I know wouldn't-"

He was cut off by an obnoxious laugh that sounded absolutely nothing like his friend, yet seemed to come from him anyways. "Oh, you truly still think that I'm that friend of yours, do you?", the person in front of him questioned, sounding horribly condescending. "And I thought this little trick wouldn't work! 'Toris' isn't even in this building, to my knowledge."

"Then who are you?", Feliks demanded, pulling his hands away and curling them into fists at his side. Flames burned through his mind. He was mortified that he hadn't caught this trick sooner; furious that some person would even do something like that.

"If I'd wanted you to know that, I would have come wearing my own face," the false Toris stated. "But I hate to see such a pretty face upset, so I'll make you a deal. I need you to do me a **favor** , and if you can do that, I'll see to it that your friend is safe."

That wasn't the kind of thing Feliks would trust in a million years. But, a 'favor'? That sounded like the kind of thing that might involve getting out of the cell, and that sounded promising, so he nodded, maintaining his glare all the same.

" **There is a man named Gilbert Beilschmidt,** " began the man. His words held an odd sort of resonance, like they were lulling him into listening. " **White hair, red eyes- well, you know him. You've met him, right? Anyways, he's a bit of a sensitive target, and we need to prove that there's no reason to concern everyone with him. You are to use this teleporter to track him down, and that shouldn't be too difficult since the coordinates are already in there.** "

Things started to feel hazy as he involuntarily took the odd device from the man's hand. The words were echoing in his head almost painfully.

" **When you find him, you will attack him, but you are absolutely not to harm him,** " the man continued. " **You are only to fight him for long enough to get a good read on the extent of his powers. Once you have done so, you will report back to me, and then you will return to this cell. If you fail, Toris won't be safe in the slightest. Is that understood?** "

Eyes in front of him pulsed with energy. Nothing was contained within his head but those directions. It wasn't so much the words, but his will that was smothering every individual thought in his mind. Feliks felt like he was falling asleep, but his eyes remained open and his thoughts remained painfully narrowed instead of flying wildly.

**Take teleporter in hand. Activate coordinates. Ignore the two men standing before you. Forget they exist. Forget they ever existed.**

**Blink out dazed feeling brought on by transporter. Do not over think surroundings. Recognition is irrelevant.**

(Ah, but this is where Liz works, right?)

**Recognition is irrelevant.**

**Target approaches. Target is followed by two people. Target is followed by Matthew Jones-Williams and Elizaveta Hedervary. Do not harm them either, but also do not acknowledge them.**

(That's Liz! Why is she involved in this?)

**Do not acknowledge them.**

**Attract attention of Target. Do not be concerned when Matthew Jones-Williams stops behind you.**

**Produce flame when Target acknowledges you. Ignore the attempts of Elizaveta Hedervary to speak to you.**

(Liz? I- I don't know…)

**Ignore it.**

**Send flame near Target, but not close enough to do damage. Study Target's transformation. Study it closely.**

(Feliks admired the brilliant display that enveloped the target in elaborate armor. It was rather beautiful to watch how it formed itself over-)

**Study it. Do not admire it. Study it.**

**Target is covered in armor. Target blocks flame with armor. Ignore concerned gaze of Elizaveta Hedervary.**

(Am I… awake?)

**Observe transformation light coming from Elizaveta Hedervary. Do not express surprise at this development. Her fiance has been a potential target for years and, as surely you can see by now, we tend to flock together.**

**Add to objections a second target. Observe Elizaveta Hedervary's powers as well.**

**Target 2 summons weapon. Weapon is a frying pan. This is not surprising. Possible matches are Hungary, Belgium, or Seychelles. Hungary is most likely match. Hungary's known skill sets include brute strength, violent protectiveness, and mind reading.**

(Hey, why are you looking at me like that?)

**Warning: it appears Target 2 is attempting to read this mind. Warning: resist mind reading as much as possible. Warning: preserve control link.**

Feliks felt something tugging on the edges of the consciousness buried beneath the orders suppressing his own thoughts. The odd sensation that three different voices contained within his mind struck him. One was overwhelming him and the other was searching through files and extending a hand to him. He tried to take it.

**Resist attempts to awaken. Continue to observe Targets. Do not allow harm to come to Targets.**

The commands were not so much a smothering blanket as they were a net he was struggling to escape. Liz had poked holes in them, but they weren't entirely helping. Feliks was perfectly aware now that he was sending blasts of fire at the Targets, but couldn't stop it.

**Continue to provoke targets. Confirm Target 1 is not the HRE. This is the prime objective. This is incredibly important.**

"L-Liz," Feliks coughed out the words between orders and flames. "I- I'm- please, help."

**Target 2 closes eyes. Target 2 smiles slightly.**

**Warning: Target 2 is attempting to disrupt link. Warning: link has not run to completion. Wa** rni **ng: co** nt **rol** li **nk h** a **s** b **ee** n **dis** rupted...

Like a blinding light after exiting a dark room, Feliks was overwhelmed as the orders in his mind suddenly vanished. It became painfully clear to him that he was standing in a school parking lot attempting to attack his cousin and his employee's older brother.

"You okay?", Liz asked him, her own transformation falling away. "What was going on in there? It was like some weird computer program was telling you to observe our powers or something."

A soft voice interrupted. "Oh, and it wasn't weird that you were able to read his mind?"

"Well, she's always had this sort of creepy sixth sense," Gilbert added. "Can always tell when I'm bugging Roderich too much."

"I, like, really don't know what that was," Feliks said in an attempt to simplify the story. "It was like one minute I was talking to this guy that was trying to trick me into thinking he was Toris and asking me to help him out and the next minute I couldn't think about anything but what he told me to do."

The word "Toris" in particular seemed to concern Liz, and rightfully so given how she knew very well how much his disappearance had devastated Feliks. "Let me at this guy," she huffed. "If all that stuff in your heads anything to judge by, he's after Roderich too, and I won't stand for some mind-controlling freak going after you guys."

Some of what the guy had said before all that mess of directions had overtaken his mind flooded back. Hadn't he said that if he failed Toris would be in danger? "I- I need to get back there," he muttered, trying to search for the transporter he'd held, but found that it had either vanished or burned up with the flames. "The guy said if I messed up Toris was in for it, and I-"

"That can't be right," Liz assured him. "Toris has been gone for years. There's nothing they could do to harm him-"

There she went again with her theory that he'd died. Feliks hadn't believed that for a second, even before he'd seen him again. "No, I saw him!", he corrected. "The other day, he tried to attack me, but he couldn't, and then he-"

The sprays of blood that had painted the asphalt came back in a rush. His dearest friend had gone from more alive than he could have ever hoped to see him again to nearly dead in a matter of seconds. Would a life that precious be taken again? As punishment for how ungrateful a friend he'd been all those years?

No, never. Never again would he let that happen. Toris had been there for him without fail for years and years, even when he didn't deserve it. Toris was the only person he'd felt comfortable around, the only person he really loved.

"Anyways, I need to find a way to save him," he affirmed. "But, like, they'll hurt him if they think I did it, so why don't you like..." He searched for an idea. Maybe they'd hurt Toris for him willingly defecting, but what if it didn't look deliberate? "Take me hostage or something?"

Everyone present looked really confused by that. "I mean, like, so they'll think I didn't come willingly and not hurt him," he explained. Everyone still looked confused, and he started to wonder if it was one of those things that made more sense in his head than it did out loud.

And then a metal burst came from Gilbert's hand as the armor around him dispersed, and coils of wire bound his ankles together. "Yeah, sure," he agreed as Feliks lost his balance and tumbled ungracefully to the ground, the scrapes inflicted by the rough ground healing before they could even be called wounds. Liz elbowed the white-haired man harshly, but Feliks smiled. It was an odd agreement, but it was the only one he could think of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super special thanks to Amethystfairy1, because she helped me come up with Poland's plan for defection. Well, she'd suggested it as a method pulled off by the Nordics for Iceland's sake, but clearly that couldn't be done because he's already dead. But I'm super grateful for her letting me repurpose that idea to use for Poland and Liet, 'cause I'd planned before that suggestion to just kill Liet off when he got attacked at the end of his chapter. But, Liet and Poland have become some of my favorite characters, so I'm super glad I didn't have to do that. Plus, the fact that the actual countries Hungary and Poland are regarded as "cousins" in some traditional poems and stuff was too cute not to use. Also, that guy with the mind control seems awfully suspicious, right? Well, just read the next chapter, you'll see. So, thanks for reading~!


	29. Announcement

Just a heads up, this version of the story won't be updated anymore. It's, however, posted in its full on Fanfiction.net!

 

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11564493/1/Magitalia

 

Also, I'm considering posting a revised edition of the story on AO3, so stay tuned for news on that!


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